By VALERIE METREJEAN

Staff Writer

Tech student organizations now have a way to receive funding from the Student Organization Committee for worth-while projects.

"Last spring, the student body voted to increase many of the student self-assessed fees," Kimberly Ludwig, Student Government Association president and a senior business management and entrepreneurship major, said.

One fee introduced was the Organizational Development Fee in which $5 from every student each quarter goes into a grant fund that will go to organizations who have special projects that need financial support.

Ludwig said organizations can now request funding for projects that "may not be able to be funded" otherwise.

Barry Morales, director of student development, is a member of the seven student and four faculty member committee, which decides how the money will be delegated to various campus organizations.

"We have more students than adults because it is the students' money, and they need to have a say in how the money is used," Morales said.

Morales said registered organizations recognized by the university may request funding for conferences, tournaments or events by filling out a packet.

A monthly meeting of the committee will decide what projects can be funded.

"An organization can get up to a $3,000 grant; four organizations together can get $8,000," Morales said.

When trying to get the funding, Ludwig said the committee looks at those organizations that are "going to benefit a lot of students" with what they spend the money on.

"We need sufficient evidence that the club does not receive funding and they have tried looking other places," Ludwig said.

Ludwig said the first meeting, held Nov. 2, had fewer applicants because many students still do not know about the committee, but more clubs are expected to apply.

"We are trying to come up with a way to determine how to distribute the funds when we get more applications," Ludwig said.

Gary Kratzer, a member of the water ski team and a graduate student of business administration, filled out an application to receive a grant for a tournament the ski team would like to host in the spring.

"Without [the funding] we would have to try to come up with the money through fund-raisers, which takes time," Kratzer said.

"[Ludwig] made the grant packet very easy to fill out."

Ludwig said the packet includes questions about how the group usually acquires funds, what the benefits to Tech are and what the objective for the project is.

Kratzer advises trying to fill out the application early because the sooner students get the money, the easier it will be when it comes to early planning.

"We can cover up-front cost now for our spring tournament," Kratzer said.

The water ski team received the full $3,000 which will cover a lot of the cost for the tournament.

Kratzer said, "It is nice to see that my tuition money is going to good use."