At an emergency meeting on Dec. 3, the clubs committee of the U of T Students’ Union granted funding to the French Club (EFUT), the U of T Italian-Canadian Association, and the North American Model UN student group.
EFUT, which in November had their budget request tabled, was given $8,000. The club had requested $17,020.64 in their October application. Last year, they received $10,000. Sitelle Cheskey, EFUT’s president, says the club will appeal the decision.
According to Vita Carlino, UTSU’s clubs and events coordinator, EFUT will have to submit a written statement expressing their concerns, which will be addressed once the tabled funding requests are resolved. UTSU warns clubs that if they do submit a statement of appeal, there is the possibility that they will receive no funding at all.
Clubs have expressed dissatisfaction over limited funding. WATCH, a student-run charity that serves children, asked for $500 to help cover costs for their annual holiday dinner at Hart House. UTSU gave them $400 and recommended that they search for a less expensive venue. “We are mostly unhappy with the reason they indicated for not giving us [the funding],” said Fei He, a WATCH member and former president. “What better way to inspire all these inner-city children to go to university or college than to give them a taste of the best at U of T—Hart House.”
The budgeting calendar is a primary concern. Clubs submit budgets to UTSU in October and receive the verdict in November. Rejected clubs were told their budgets would not be reconsidered until January. UTSU awards funding on a 40-30-30 schedule. For clubs that are granted over $2,000, the first 40 per cent of their grant is given immediately, with two remaining instalments of 30 per cent forwarded once clubs submit receipts to UTSU. The schedule effectively gives clubs five months to spend what their applications have budgeted as a year’s worth of money and forces clubs to draw from reserves or pay out of pocket for events in the first semester.
“I’m not an enthusiast [of the funding schedule],” said Mueen Hakak, UTSU’s professional faculties representative and former clubs committee member. “I’ve been a clubs member and I’ve seen that it causes a delay, as clubs find out how much they are going to get very late in the semester. By that time, half of their activities are already done.”
Club leaders echoed the sentiment. “Our biggest problem now is that we’re having trouble reimbursing our executives for the expenses they’ve paid themselves,” Fei He said.
“There needs to be a profound change in the clubs funding process, since we had to fund all of EFUT’s activities out-of-pocket up until now,” said Cheskey. “It is unacceptable for [the students running a club] to have to take such financial risks.”
In an email to The Varsity, UTSU’s VP campus life Danielle Sandhu said she has not heard from any clubs that the budgeting calendar was flawed. “All feedback I have received thus far regarding funding allocations has been positive,” she wrote.
UTSU informed Cheskey that the club’s application was incomplete, as they did not submit a membership list. EFUT maintains that they held back on the information out of consideration for student privacy. Alumni chair and former president Antonin Mongeau said that the clubs committee ignored an invitation to examine membership lists at EFUT’s office.
“EFUT will not likely be able to host all the events we had hoped to,” Cheskey said. “We feel that a 20 per cent cut [in funding] from last year is not consistent with our efforts.” She said EFUT had around 1,300 students on their mailing list last year, and over 1,700 this year.
Hakak said that complaints are of little significance when applications are incomplete. “We have to as clubs make sure that what we do is complete before we can make complaints or point fingers,” said Hakak. “If EFUT was the only club denied because they did not have membership lists, then it would be a problem. From what I can tell, the rules were applied across the board.” The African Students Association also had their funding delayed because of an incomplete membership list.
With the $8,000, EFUT plans to continue with most of their regular programming, which includes a tutoring program, regular movie and pub nights, and conversation clubs for students seeking to polish their French language skills. Among the events that are likely to be cancelled are a large academic conference and a trip to New Orleans.
