The Allocations Board (A-Board) funded 72 percent of requests, according to Appeals Marathon decisions released through the club leaders listserv on Sunday, Oct. 16.
Appeals decisions affected 30 clubs that asked for a total of $39,942.43 in allocated funds. A-Board funded $28,929.78 in appeals.
The purpose of appeals is to give clubs a second chance at getting funding for things that were rejected during Regular Marathon. A-Board cannot consider funding appeals for requests that were not made in the Regular Marathon session. For example, A-Board rejected an appeal by the Vietnamese Student Association for a study break event because they had not asked for the funds during the previous Marathon cycle.
Between Regular and Appeals Marathon, A-Board used $220,283.72 of its total budget. The total budget is about $300,000 budget, according to Alex Feldman ’19, chairperson of A-Board. As a result of both sessions, A-Board used 73 percent of its budget.
A-Board allocated the full amount of funding to 16 clubs, partially allocated funding to 10 clubs and did not allocate any funding to three clubs after they appealed. The Baseball Club appealed but did not provide a total requested amount for their expenses, so they were denied funding.
A-Board also rejected appeals because the events had already occurred. A-Board rejected the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Latinos and Native Americans in Science’s appeal, because they said that they could not provide allocated funding for events that had already happened.
A-Board adhered to policy and limited expense to what they deemed necessary. For example, the Japanese Student Association requested funding for food for a Study Abroad in East Asia event, but A-Board did not deem food necessary.
A-Board noted that they cannot yet fund events that are happening in the spring semester. Decisions for regular marathon only affect this semester. As a result, they rejected requests from the Russian Club for events occurring in March.
Clubs like the Fashion Design Club, that were originally rejected on the basis that they did not submit the proper Google forms when making their request, did appeal during the appeals session and their funding was partially allocated.
After the Regular Marathon results were released on Oct. 9, clubs had six days to appeal before the appeals period ended on Oct. 15. Appeals decisions were released the next day.
The appeals process allows A-Board to “fix a lot of mistakes,” Feldman said. A-Board asked clubs to come back with more information about events either through Google forms or a drop in session. The Brandeis International Journal was told they did not provide enough information to have their request approved during the regular session. Their request was approved during appeals.
The appeals process consisted of two parts. Club treasurers made a new request for the allocated funds that were rejected in the previous marathon. Then, they met with A-Board during drop-in hours to explain the need for these funds.
The Marathon process is changing moving forward. Instead of having request periods in April and again in September for the fall semester, or in November and January for the spring semester, there will be one period for each. This means clubs that want money for next semester must make their requests this November.
