There is no doubt that the student organizations are a large part of welcoming new Warhawks to campus and integrating them into life here at UW-Whitewater. But some might be strapped for cash when trying to put on events or create fun activities for their members. That’s where SUFAC comes in. The Segregated University Fee Allocation Committee (SUFAC) held trainings Thursday, Sept. 23 and Friday, Sept. 24 in the University Center for UW-W organizational leaders to learn more about the committee and the application process to receive funding.

The SUFAC team is made up of members of Whitewater Student government and students appointed by the dean of each college to serve as representatives. Matt Schweinert, a junior general management major serves as the chair, along vice chair Colin Chapman, a senior legal studies major, who gave the presentation along with senior student services coordinator Kimberly Clarksen. 

The sole purpose of the committee is to grant funding to student organizations that benefit the student population as a whole, or more specifically as the presentation stated “to make decisions, SUFAC/WSG examines the uniqueness of service and campus benefit of the newly requesting group. SUFAC/WSG will not find a group eligible where there is direct duplication and access of service elsewhere on campus.” The presentation also stated that a club or organization must also use all grant funds provided by SUFAC for “items that can better the greater student population of UW-Whitewater, impacts the greatest amounts of students as possible, provide educational/learning opportunities, shared across campus, and tie into the values of UW-Whitewater (Collaboration, Diversity and opportunity, Integrity, Learning and academic excellence, Service and social responsibility, and Shared governance.”

To tap into these funds, a club or organization must submit an application and a budget breaking down the amount requested into several categories which SUFAC specifies. These categories include, but are not limited to travel, maintenance, utilities, supplies, surfaces, equipment and fellowships.  

SUFAC members also came up with a series of questions club and organization leaders can ask themselves such as “What do we want to accomplish?” and “How much is it going to take and what is going to be spent on?” when coming up with a budget number that is not too high or too low.

At the end of the presentation, Clarksen commented on all the hard work the committee has put into making this process more transparent for all the organizations involved. 

“I respect the heck out of the SUFAC committee. They are completely transparent and that’s hard to do, but they go the extra mile to do that for all the orgs,” said Clarksen.

If you are an organization leader interested in filling out a SUFAC application visit https://tinyurl.com/SUFApplication or if you would like more information contact [email protected] for application help. All applications are due 11:59pm Oct. 8.