Applications for funding are due by Oct. 25.
By Andrea Moreno
amoreno439@student.alamo.edu
The Student Activity Fee Committee approved three funding requests Oct. 4 in its monthly meeting.
The money will be taken out of the $195,000 in student activity fee funds.
The combined total of $17,761 of the three organizations will be deducted from the $195,000 left in the fund for clubs and student organizations.
During the meeting, representatives of SACNAS, the Society for the Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science; MAES, Latinos in Science and Engineering; and AIAS, American Institute of Architecture Students were on hand to answer questions about the applications.
SACNAS requested $2,200 for registration for four students and the adviser for the 2018 SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference Oct. 11-13 in Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.
District policy dictates the student activity fee does not cover food or accommodation when the club or organization stays in Bexar County, said Mark Bigelow, interim director of student life, Oct. 10.
Nine individuals attended the conference, eight were students and one adviser, said astronomy and physics Professor Alfred Alaniz.
A CIMA, or Ciencia Ingeníeria y Matemáticas Aliados, and META, or Motivating Engineers To Achieve, grants paid for four students.
Two students presented their research at the conference.
“The students had designed everything of the research with the collaboration of a faculty adviser,” Alaniz said Oct. 18.
Alaniz stayed in the Oct. 4 meeting for the next group, MAES, to fill in the spot of adviser, because the adviser for that organization was not available to attend.
The organization asked the committee to fund a trip to the SHPE National Convention Nov. 8-11 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Gerardo Silva, electrical engineering sophomore and secretary of MAES, spoke on behalf of the students and Alaniz stepped in to speak when needed.
Silva said it will help the students to make connections with companies in the field of engineering and there is a good chance for the students to leave with an opportunity of an internship.
The organization submitted an initial request for $9,601.60 because the organization said they planned to take 11 people, including the adviser.
However, during the meeting, Silva said they will now be taking eight students and one adviser.
The committee recalculated the organization’s need for travel, food and registration at $8,676.
Four students and the adviser of AIAS requested $4,885 to attend the Forum 2018 convention Dec. 28-Jan. 2 in Seattle.
Expenses for travel, registration, hotel and food is $8,185.
There will be six students and one adviser attending.
Students pay out of pocket $3,300 for registration and food.
Architecture Coordinator Dwayne Bohuslav said Oct. 4, the AIAS student chapter has attended this convention for the past nine years and is grateful to attend the convention every year.
After the group of students and adviser left, the committee reviewed all applications.
Karen Ortiz, business administration sophomore and president of Student Government Association, who is also a member of the committee said this opportunity will be awesome for MAES.
However, English Professor Laurie Coleman said she thought they were asking for a lot but reconsidered because of the benefits it will give the students.
The last application the organization reviewed was the AIAS application, which was easily approved.
Only seven voting members were present at the meeting.
The committee has nine voting members, five students and four faculty members.
If a regular voting member is not available, a substitute is invited.
Bigelow said Oct. 17 if neither are available, they will be able to still continue the meeting, however, students always need to outnumber the faculty.
By law there should be four student members and one faculty present if some voting members are missing, Bigelow said.
Also present at the meeting were social work sophomore Lynette Gonzalez-Vidal, liberal arts sophomore Lola Johnson and biology sophomore Connor Ghita.
Diana Flores, American Sign Language interpreter sophomore, was not available for the meeting and neither was alternate Brett Douglas, psychology sophomore.
Visual arts Professor Qing Liu and ASL Professor Brian Barwise also attended.
Melissa Sutherland-Hunt, counselor at the advocacy center was not present and alternate Patty Medina, Title V grant coordinator, was not available for the meeting.
Applications to request funding from the Student Activity Fee Committee will be due by Oct. 25 for consideration in the next meeting Nov. 1.
For more information, call Bigelow at 210-486-0134.