The Student Government Summer Planning Committee met Wednesday evening to discuss plans for merging the Programming, Support, and Initiative Fund with the Organizational Relief Fund.
The merger attempts to facilitate the procedure for student organizations to acquire money by merging the two funds.
 
Speaker of the Senate Aaron Caffarel said having two separate programs led to some confusion and ambiguity, and the merger would help streamline the process.
“The general consensus is that it would be easier overall if there were one committee that had oversight on everything,” Caffarel said.
The Summer Planning Committee intends to merge funding committees, with the management of the accounts still being discussed. The committee’s ideal scenario would be to form a single committee for the fall semester, with accounts being merged in the spring following a student vote in the fall election.
SG President Cody Wells compared the new structure to having office dividers rather than a brick wall, indicating that money will be more easily distributed to organizations than before. The president singled out funds for Homecoming and Groovin’ on the Grounds as money they would like to protect under the merger.
“The end goal is decreasing all of the brick-wall red tape to increase flexibility for students,” Wells said in the meeting.
The plan  — which is still in preliminary stages — was described in the meeting as simultaneously a short-term and long-term solution, with the merger able to handle issues in the interim before the fall elections. The Summer Planning Committee plans for the Veterinary and Graduate schools to join the committee, but in the event they do not they will create their own.
Other issues discussed include the announcement that Tiger Band will now have parking on football game days, acquiring 200 spots in a lot adjacent to Tiger Stadium across from West Campus Apartments parking. The Wells/Bordelon initiative for parking passes was also discussed, which would allow for the passes to be delivered to students more quickly.
The committee is also pursuing an initiative regarding a five-dollar student quota for printing which will be contingent on available funds.
The SG Summer Planning Committee meets every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Student Union.
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Contact Michael Harb at [email protected]