A secondary process for the allocation of money to student organizations, called fall specials, soon will be underway.

The Government of the Student Body finance committee meets annually in the spring to hear funding requests from student organizations, said Jeremy Williams, GSB finance director.

The first meeting will be held Thursday at 7 p.m.

The committee and the GSB senate then allocate a specific amount of money to the groups for use during the following academic year.

In some instances, student organizations are not able attend the spring hearings, Williams said. The fall specials allow these organizations to complete the request process in the fall, granting them money to use during the spring semester.

“Fall specials are designed to meet special and unforeseen needs,” said Doug Houghton, finance committee adviser. “If, for whatever reason, an organization missed the regular allocation last spring, they can come before the finance committee and ask for allocations for the spring semester.”

Money is set aside for fall specials during the spring allocation process, Williams said.

“Traditionally, about $10,000 is set aside each year,” he said. “This year, we have $13,000.”

The budget for the regular allocation process is about $1.5 million, Houghton said, which goes to about 250 clubs and organizations.

Several criteria must be met to qualify student organizations for fall specials.

“New groups which just started this semester or at the end of last spring semester that have no money can apply,” Williams said.

Other situations, such as a change of leadership, unexpected needs or significant budget changes, grant eligibility to organizations.

The request process for fall specials is basically the same as for the regular spring cycle, Houghton said.

“Students make up a budget, explain why they need the money and explain why they couldn’t go through the regular process,” he said.

After the student organizations submit their requests, the finance committee determines the amount of money each should receive.

“There usually is more money requested than there is set aside,” Williams said.

Since fall specials only allocate money for the spring semester, organizations can re-apply for funding through the regular spring finance committee hearings.

“From my perspective, this is a good process,” Houghton said. “It gets money to student groups so they can do some things. It works well.”