For student organizations looking for help with funding their activities, Student Government can be a valuable resource. The Programming, Support and Initiative Fund committee, one of three SG committees responsible for distributing funds, assists campus organizations with funding events and supports new student organizations financially through the use of student fees.
PSIF is a committee made up of eight students, four from SG and four from the general student body. The committee allots money from student fees to student clubs and associations.
The five accounts that make up PSIF fund campus events like the Homecoming concert in the fall, Groovin’ in the spring and various University occasions.
To qualify for PSIF funding, the student organization must be registered with Campus Life or the UREC. If the organization requests funding for a certain event, it must be on campus or less than 10 miles away.
SG director of finance Wesley Davis said PSIF is a useful tool that student organizations sometimes do not utilize. Depending on the account, Davis said available funding can vary from $17,000 to over $300,000.
“The Organization Initiatives and Conference Support account had like, $325,000 [last semester] and we only used about $10,000 of it or so,” Davis said.
Last semester, PSIF gave out about $44,000 in funding for student organizations. Black Student Union president Destinee Medina said PSIF provided funding for the organization’s fall gala during Homecoming Week.
“I think PSIF is a great resource, especially for organizations that are smaller or don’t have much funding,” Medina said. “There are organizations that have great ideas that just don’t have the money to fund them.”
For organizations that have been established for less than two academic years, PSIF provides $1,500 in start-up support to help launch the organization’s initiatives. Davis said PSIF funds the core operations for other clubs as well.
The group also provided around $10,000 in funding for the Musical Theatre Club’s production of “Legally Blonde,” which ran Feb. 12-14. MTC board chair Curran Latas said without the funding, the club would not have been able to finance the show and offer free admission for every performance.
“PSIF is helping us to give back to the LSU and Baton Rouge community in ways we never thought would be possible,” said Latas.
Davis said SG will be reaching out to student clubs and other on-campus organizations to make sure they are aware of the resources available to them. His goal is to spread the word about PSIF to as many organizations as possible.
“There’s a lot of money that I would like to see more people made aware of,” said Davis. “Hopefully by the time I’m done with this position more people will know about it.”