Benjamin Smith, chair of the Organizational Affairs Committee and sophomore class president, hosted a small event Nov. 4 to talk to the presidents of different student organizations about funding available and to encourage some collaboration across campus.
The presentation mostly focused on how different student organizations have to go through different avenues for funding, and some don't have all the avenues that others do.
All student organizations receive funding from SGA, which receives the money from Mercer University's Board of Appropriations. The money can be normal organization funding — or "Bear Grants" — special funding, seed money for new organizations, funding for conferences and lodging and even some for food, provided the event is either cultural or educational. All funding can be applied for via the SGA website.
Club sports and religious life organizations receive their funding more directly, whether it is from Recreational Sports and Wellness for club sports or through local church sponsorships for religious life organizations.
Smith hosts the event because of common misunderstandings of SGA's processes. He said that there had been a recurring issue where organizations had not gotten their funding on time and then had concerns about receiving the money after the fact.
"My goal was to let these orgs know about the funding available for them, and I think it went very well," Smith said. "Certain orgs don't receive their funding in time for certain events that they have, so they have to spend money out of their own pockets."
The Presidents' Roundtable is hosted typically twice a year, the first in early November and the second mid-spring.
Henry Keating '24 is a Journalism and History student at Mercer. He has worked at The Cluster as SGA correspondent, State and Local News Editor, Managing Editor and now as the Editor-in-Chief. Henry has held internships at the Macon Newsroom, Macon Telegraph, and Greenville Post and Courier. He enjoys backpacking, rom-coms, pottery and photography.
