By: Ava Uhlack, Oct. 8, 2024
The Associated Student Inc. board of directors addressed a plan to create a space for Muslim students and reviewed additional budget requests for clubs in its meeting Thursday, Oct. 3.
Science Sen. Aliuddin O’ Khaja presented an initiative to create a space for Muslim students for private prayer and congregation during the board report section of the meeting.
“I’m Muslim, and there are hundreds of Muslim students on campus,” said Khaja. “In our religion, we have to pray five times a day, and I think it’s important we have a space with proper carpets set up and a place to store hijabs.”
According to Khaja, almost every other California State University school has a space designated to Muslim students for prayer or a Middle Eastern student center, including Cal State Fullerton’s Muslim Student Association.
While this initiative is not explicitly an ASI directive, Khaja is attempting to utilize his position to represent the Muslim student population and to get the process to create the space started.
“Since ASI has a little more money and power behind it, and I’m on the board of directors as well, I’m hoping to get as far as possible with this process,” said Khaja. “As of right now, we are just at the starting point, but I’m hoping to at least have a place set aside by the end of this semester, so we can start opening up a space by next semester.”
Along with this proposal, the ASI board of directors discussed campus clubs’ possible need to request more funds.
Presented by Angelica Rosas, the club services finance manager for ASI and the associate director for financial services, the presentation took place during the Discussion Item B section of the meeting titled “Resident Student Organizations Budget Process and Information.”
During the presentation, Rosas reviewed the process for budget submissions by clubs. The first step in the budget process is to ensure that the executive signing members of the club are in good standing with the Bronco Learning Centers and once all party members are confirmed to be in good standing, they can submit a budget for the club they represent.
After the approval process, clubs are informed of funding amounts by mid-August, according to Rosas.
As for the amount clubs receive, the number varies depending on the budget submitted and what they need, according to Rosas.
The budget information is typically given to the executive members of the club as well as the ASI Treasurer, according to Megan Shadrick, the Vice President of ASI.
Newly registered clubs that were unable to receive an annual budget from the registered council may apply for funding through this process, according to Rosas.
Registered student clubs and councils also may be eligible for additional funding if the annual budget allocated was not sufficient for the club or council activities, depending on whether the need abides by the ASI Budget Guidelines and Stipulations.
According to Rosas, the maximum amount of funds allowed for an additional request is $6,000, and there is a drop-down list on the page to specify what the funding is required for whether it be marketing, merchandise, etc.
The option for cash advance for clubs was also touched on during this conversation by Rosas.
“It’s $500 per individual,” said Rosas. “If they do need to withdraw cash for something like food for an event, they can request through a disbursement request form.”
Rosas finished her presentation with her contact information for clubs who might need financial support or have questions that need to be addressed.
For general finance questions, it’s best to email asifs@cpp.edu. For budget inquiries, email asibudgets@cpp.edu, and for the disbursement request mentioned above or purchase order requests, it’s best to reach out to asipayables@cpp.edu.
For more in-depth budget information, review Rosas’ presentation.
The next ASI Board of Directors meeting will be Oct. 17.
Feature graph courtesy of Angelica Rosas