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The University of Maine Programming Fund, formerly known as the “comp fee,” has used up all of its resources, but will fund events throughout April.
The Programming Fund helped sponsor events such as Family and Friends Weekend, International Students Oronoka parties, Black Student Union celebrations, the Beautiful Project, Pride Week, Rock Against Rape, guest lectures and comedians.
“We were disappointed that we ran out of money, but [we are] still satisfied because that means people are using the money,” said Andrea Gifford, assistant to the dean of students. “We feel good that we’ve been able to help.”
The money in the Programming Fund comes from the unified fee paid by all students each semester. Students with up to five credit hours pay $50 per semester, students with six to 11 credit hours pay $155 per semester, and those with 12 or more credits pay $420 per semester, according to Dawn Glidden, associate bursar.
The unified fee is a mandatory fee “to cover the fixed cost of providing overall educational services that are not directly associated with tuition charges,” Glidden said.
The Programming Fund receives a total of $59,882 from the money generated by the Unified Fee. The Programming Fund is now base-funded-it will receive the same dollar amount each year unless there is some unforeseen change, Gifford said.
“For now, that’s what we can plan on each year,” Gifford said.
The fund is divided into two components, the Program Fund and the Services Fund. This academic year, the Services Fund started with $20,539 and the Program Fund had $39,343. Student groups may apply for the Services Fund to cover up to 80 percent of services-related expenses, such as Public Safety officers or catering.
“It sounds like a lot, but when you’ve sponsored 35 some-odd events, it’s really not a lot,” Gifford said.
The money is awarded only to organizations recognized by either Student Government or the Association of Graduate Students. The group in need of funding must fill out an application describing the event, how many people are expected to attend and include a detailed budget with specific expenses.
Events are not funded 100 percent by the Programming Fund, and the committee encourages organizations to seek other sources of additional fundraising.
The committee considers the number of people expected to attend and the overall cost of the event. Additionally, the event must be open to the entire UMaine community and must take place on campus, unless a specific reason otherwise is approved, Gifford said.
The group then must present its case to the Programming Fund committee, which meets twice monthly. The committee consists of seven members, including a graduate student, four undergraduate students, Associate Dean of Students Calli Sanders and Gifford. The students on the committee can not be officers of an organization with a budget greater than $5,000. There is a lot of interaction between the committee and the group representatives, Gifford said.
Bangor Daily News