Rutgers University Student Assembly Allocations Board
The RUSA Allocations Board is an arm of the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) and is responsible for distributing a portion of the student activity fee to registered Rutgers University student organizations. In addition, this committee serves as a resource for organizations on budget planning and management and conducts periodic student organization financial audits.
For anything Allocations related, please visit: rusa.rutgers.edu/allocations. Organizations can sign up for appeals meetings through this website.
Questions can be emailed to rusa.allocations@gmail.com.
About the RUSA Allocations Board and Student Fees
The RUSA Allocations Board is comprised of student leaders selected through an interview and training process and ratified through RUSA. This board facilitates the distribution of fees (a portion of the school fee) to student organizations, as well as a portion of the fees for the Rutgers University Programming Association (RUPA), sport clubs, and Senior Class Events/Class Treasuries.
All registered student organizations are eligible to request funding from the Allocations Board for events, projects, organizational maintenance, and capital equipment on a semester or annual basis.
The purpose of these events and projects is compared to the organization’s mission statement, and then are reviewed by maximum allowed funding per line item, based on the event/project scope (size/attendance/type of space).
Only a part of the school fee of $71 goes to RUSA Allocations. The remainder goes toward their graduating class fund.
- SAS Students: the remainder then goes to RUPA, sport clubs, and then RUSA-funded special events, cultural umbrella organizations, and RUSA Allocations.
- SEBS, Mason Gross, Engineering, Pharmacy, and Business students: 80% of fee goes to their professional school and 20% goes to RUSA Allocations.
This split and the amount of the student fee were both set in 2008, with the belief that students would join only organizations affiliated with their school. The reality is that students from all schools participate in organizations funded by RUSA Allocations.
Student Organization Budget Process
The Budget Process
RUSA Allocations sets a budget request deadline in the spring for the fall semester, and in the fall semester for the subsequent spring semester. RUSA Allocations accepts budget requests through an online form found on getINVOLVED.rutgers.edu.
Student organizations can apply for funding for up to four programs, but will only be funded for a maximum of two programs through the budget process. Groups should enter their programs according to their priority. If deemed fundable, RUSA Allocations evaluates the scope of the program and applies maximums for fundable items based on that scope.
RUSA Allocations does this with every budget requested, and at the end of the day, totals the fundable portions of the budgets requested. If the total fundable requests exceed Allocations’ budget, they apply a percentage cut across the board to fit the available funding. This ensures equal opportunity to organizations for funding, and equitable reductions in funding based upon event scope.
The Appeals Process
During the semester, RUSA-funded student organizations may sign up for an appeals meeting in order to ask for further funding for a program they have already received funding for, or a new program they would like to host. A group must fill out an online appeals request form to sign up.
The number of groups that can appeal at each meeting is limited. Each organization is given an appointment time if they are approved to come to the appeals meeting. The student organization will have two minutes to explain the mission of their organization and the event. They then have the opportunity to go over their line-item budget and the specific request, as well as adjusting any budget numbers.
The Allocations Board reviews the requests to determine if they are fundable or not. Once there is consensus on which requests are fundable, the appeal requests are reviewed for maximums allowed for the scope of the event. Requests are totaled and compared to the total amount allocations has available for the meeting. If needed, a cut is applied across the board to all requests. Priority is given to groups funding at least two events/projects a semester.
RUSA Allocations and Financial Transactions
RUSA Allocations
The RUSA Allocations Board is an affiliated committee of RUSA that operates separately from RUSA and is responsible for the allocation of funds to registered Rutgers University student organizations, as well as various registered events on an as needed basis. The goal of the Allocations Board is to promote and support diversity of programming made available to all Rutgers University students through the fair and efficient use of the student activity fee. RUSA Allocations provides over $1,000,000 of program funding to over 400 different organizations at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
The Allocations Board is here to serve all student organizations the best way possible. If you have any questions regarding the funding process or how your organization can file an appeal for more funding, please contact rusa.allocations@gmail.com. More information may also be found on the RUSA Allocations website.
Financial Transactions
All RUSA-funded student organization accounts are held at the Student Activities Business Office (SABO). Funds allocated by the RUSA Allocations committee are transferred into to your organization’s SABO account each semester. Checks, deposits, and transfers are processed for your organization by submitting the appropriate forms and supporting documentation to SABO for each transaction.
Please see the SABO Treasurer’s Key for specific instructions on how to complete the forms and the documentation required for various types of transactions. The SABO Treasurer’s Key is available on the SABO website at sabo.rutgers.edu.
Student organizations are not permitted to hold off-campus bank accounts. Any student organization found to have an off-campus account will be referred to Student Conduct.
An understanding of various types of account codes is necessary to complete transactions for your organization. The codes associated with Student Involvement and Leadership | Student Centers and Activities are:
- ACCOUNT NUMBER: All organization accounts have a three or four-digit account number. Please contact the Student Activities Business Office or your organization advisor for your organization account number.
- LINE CODES: All organization accounts have sub-account codes called line codes. Each line code within your account is specific to a particular funding source. Commonly used line codes for organizations registered with Student Involvement and Leadership are:
- Line #345 (programs) – Funds allocated to your organization by the RUSA Allocations Committee for student organization program expenses.
- Line #317 (organizational maintenance) – Funds allocated by the RUSA Allocations Committee for expenses such as office supplies, duplicating, phone, postage, etc. See the RUSA funding guidelines for a complete list.
- Line #137 (generated revenue) – Funds that your organization generates from additional sources such as fundraising, dues, donations, etc.
- TRANSACTION CODES: All transactions are assigned a transaction code specific to a category of expense. For a complete list of transaction codes, see the Student Activities Business Office Treasurer’s Key or the Student Activities Business Office website at sabo.rutgers.edu.
Funding and Allocations Budgeting Worksheet
An essential component of organizational success is proper budget preparation and management. Both your Advisor and Faculty/Staff Mentor are available to assist you with developing your budgets.
This helpful worksheet can be downloaded to serve as the first step in your successful program planning process.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why do some groups get more funding than other groups?
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The Allocations Board reviews budget requests by looking at the scope and size of the request, and there are maximums allowed for each line item that corresponds to the scope of the event. The different capacity of the event changes the cost and therefore, the difference in funding.
Allocations never gives an organization more than what they requested, so if two groups ask for similar events, but one requests line-item funding below the maximum allowed, and the other above the maximum allowed, the fundable amount for the first group would match what they requested, while for the second group would be lower than what they asked for.When cuts are applied, they are applied as a percentage cut across the board.
Example:
25-person movie night
Licensing: $100
Food and Beverages: $100
Advertising: $50
Total Request: $250
After 20% Cut: $200
200-person movie night
Licensing: $500
Food and Beverages: $350
Advertising: $100
Total Request: $950
After 20% Cut: $760
- Why are groups and their events receiving less funding than in past years?
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Since the number of groups funded has increased dramatically over the past few years, while the student fee has not increased, the funding has been stretched extremely thin in order to accommodate the budget of every group that applies.
