Student Senate and the Office of Student Leadership and Campus Engagement (SLCE) are accepting applications for the new Campus Engagement Fund, a joint fund that replaces the Senate Slush fund and awards grants for collaborative events between two or more campus organizations.

The main purposes for the new fund are to connect Senate and SLCE to other student organizations on campus, encourage collaboration of different student-run clubs on campus and provide funding for events that were not accounted for in the 2015-2016 academic year budgeting process.

The Campus Engagement fund replaces the Senate “Slush Funds.” According to Senate Director of Financial Strategy Ben Kaufman ’16, the change occurred because the Slush Fund was being under utilized by student organizations.

“The new fund is much more open, available and easy to utilize,” Kaufman said. He added that Senate and SLCE made the fund more accessible to students by “requiring a two-week application period (as opposed to four weeks) and increasing the amounts of money that can be allocated for things like decorations, advertising and catering food.”

The Campus engagement fund also requires student organizations to collaborate on events in order to receive grants. Clubs were not allowed to apply for joint funding from the Senate Slush fund.

“This collaboration between organizations from different backgrounds is a reflection of the interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary work…in Dickinson’s academics,” said Kaufman. He pointed to examples such as Russian Club and Gaming Club teaming up to have a Russian Games event, as well as a concert being planned by the Treehouse and the Outing Club.

Another way the Campus Engagement Fund is different from the prior fund is that now every student-run club can apply for a grant, not just clubs recognized by Senate. Individuals in Senate-recognized clubs, Greek Organizations, Special Interest Houses and other forms of student organizations are eligible for Campus Engagement funds.

Senate and SLCE “wanted to give all students better access to the funds that they had paid into the Student Activities Fee,” Kaufman explained.

Clubs such as the Latin American and Caribbean Club (LACC) have been positively affected by the Campus Engagement Fund in comparison to the Slush fund. According to Alyson McAtee ’17, president of LACC, the old fund was not effective in helping the club’s leaders obtain funding for this year’s events. McAtee is pleased with the new fund because there is more financial support to “sponsor club events.”

“[With the Campus Engagement fund, we can] host great events like Noche de Baile that have become annual traditions,” said McAtee. “[We can also] come up with new creative events because we are required to host events with other student run groups.”

Kaufman stated that clubs are encouraged to request funds for the spring semester. Any money that is left over would be put into the Campus Engagement fund for next year.

“Ultimately, our goal is to improve the Student Life experience here at Dickinson,” said Kaufman. “By encouraging collaboration between groups …we hope to bring a wide diversity of events, programs and activities to campus.”

To learn more about the Campus Engagement Fund, email Kaufman at [email protected].