Iowa State students may have a chance to decide which organizations receive their student fees money, according to a discussion at last week’s Government of the Student Body senate meeting.

GSB President Rob Wiese said the student fees committee is working on a system that would let students choose how their student fees money is allocated.

He said students would be able to choose which categories of groups would receive their money.

Students would not be able to designate particular groups, but they would be able to block their student fees money from going to categories such as religious or governmental groups.

“They’re not going to be spending less. All [the students] would be doing is saying they don’t want their money to go to a certain group,” Wiese said.

He said the system is in the planning stages and is still a few years from being fully operative.

The discussion of student fees allocation is a result of last semester’s debate on funding for Campus Crusade for Christ, a religious group which received money through GSB fall specials.

Wiese said allocation decisions are based on the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Rosenberger v. University of Virginia, which said universities cannot withhold funding from a particular organization because of any type of religious affiliation.

“We basically have to treat [religious groups] as any other group,” Wiese said. “They have that right.”

Wiese also said efforts are being made to let the student body as a whole prioritize where the money should be allocated.

“We want to set up a survey for people to say what their highest priorities for student fees are, so we can put most of our funding toward what people really value,” Wiese said.

Each ISU student pays $124.18 per semester for fees, said Jeremy Williams, director of finance. Next year, that figure will increase to $129.02, he said.

Of the $124.18, GSB receives $24.56 to allocate to student groups each semester, Williams said, an allocation which has not grown recently.

“GSB hasn’t gotten an increase for two years now. It would be nice if they got a small increase,” he said.

“Every year we get more groups coming to us for funding.”

Williams described the “student choice” proposal for fee money as a simple procedure.

“We’re talking about a check-off system,” he said. “If you don’t want any of your money to go to a religious group you check it off.”

He said GSB is planning to support the possible new ice arena.

“We’re going to have to allocate money to an ice arena if the city passes it,” Williams said. “Even if they don’t pass it, we might do it anyway.”