The Government of the Student Body Senate will vote Wednesday whether to approve change to its financial policy. The decision will affect current and future engineering students. Rejecting the bill may shut the door to future opportunities for ISU students and the surrounding communities to experience engineering first hand.

“It would mean a lot more money would be available for the work we do,” said Jacob Karasch, president of Environmental Technologies Club and junior in mechanical engineering. “More money always opens up more opportunities.”

The bill proposes a separate account be made accessible for all student organizations without restriction. The account would reach $50,000 maximum. Under current GSB financial policy, most engineering academic student organizations are not eligible for funding through GSB.

The money in the account would be allocated for events hosted by student organizations. Events would have to be free and open to all ISU students.

While engineering student organizations are in greater need of funding for daily operations or funding for projects, additional money for events would help the clubs function better.

“In our case that would be extremely helpful because we would be able to allocate our sponsorship for things that it is more or less meant for,” said Kent Thoreson, treasurer for Cyclone Power Pullers and sophomore in agricultural engineering.

Qualifying for event money would allow the Cyclone Power Pullers to allocate more money toward daily costs as well as competitions. The club builds a new tractor every year for competitions, but maintains tractors from previous years. This maintenance allows freshmen to get early practical engineering experience.

Events hosted by student organizations are beneficial to the surrounding communities and students outside the college of engineering. Many organizations hold outreach events to educate other students on their projects.

Team PrISUm is a student club founded in 1989 and is heavily invested in teaching others about its car.

“The solar car was out at the mall, and, man, did people think that was the coolest thing ever: ‘Wow, you’re an engineer and you do that,’” said Erin Painter, vice president of outreach for the Engineering Student Council and sophomore in civil engineering. “It’s a good thing for the whole college.”

Team PrISUm has hosted more than seven outreach events so far this year, including a Skype session with a fifth-grade class and tailgating while displaying their car.

Outreach events are important especially for new people who don’t know much about the car, said Christopher Lopez, outreach director for Team PrISUm and freshman in aerospace engineering. “That’s how I learned about the car.”

Team PrISUm is not in desperate need of money for outreach events, but other student organizations are not as fortunate. The recession has played a major role in the push to pass this bill. Student organizations are seeing less sponsorship dollars from private organizations and companies.

“[The bill] would be really helpful for us. This past year has been really bad for sponsorship with all the automotive companies in such dire terms,” said Kyle Dickinson, treasurer of the Society of Automotive Engineers and junior in mechanical engineering. “That’s pretty much where all of our sponsorship come from is automotive companies.”

With a budget of $30,000 every year, it is becoming more difficult for the club to keep above a negative balance. The club operates $50,000 in projects every year. It makes up the $20,000 difference by receiving non-cash donations. The club qualified for only $7,000 from the Engineering Student Council.

“Any money is helpful,” Dickinson said.

The Cyclone Power Pullers are also experiencing significantly lower-than-normal cash donations from private companies and organizations.

It’s getting more challenging to meet budget needs, Thoreson said.

The Cyclone Power Pullers operate on an annual budget between $40,000 and $50,000. The club is only partially funded by the Engineering Student Council.