In the original Student Government allocations released on Feb. 17, there was a calculation error that resulted in inconsistent funding across student organizations, according to a Dean of Students spokesperson. To amend the error, 18 student organizations received an increase in their allotted funding from the Office of the Dean of Students, the office wrote on Feb. 27.
After the correction, SG will allot an additional $362.80 across the affected organizations, according to an email sent from SG. Since updating the appropriations, the 18 affected organizations have received emails about the changes. To receive their appropriations, the organizations must attend a required funding workshop.
The SG financial committee determines the maximum percentage of their requested funding that each organization is eligible for using a 25-point scoring system.
UT’s chapter of Turning Point USA received a score of 19.83, meaning they should have gotten 60% of their requested amount. With them being on the cusp of the next bracket, there should have been a 5% bump to their allocations, bringing them to 65%, but they received 69% instead. The other four organizations that had the same score originally had 65% of their requested amount as their maximum eligible amount.
For organizations on the cusp of the next funding bracket, their allocation was rounded up by an additional 5% of their requested funds. The rounding was done by the Dean of Students and not by the SG financial committee, according to a Dean of Students spokesperson.
UT’s chapter of Turning Point USA declined to comment.
The SG assembly debated funding UT’s chapter of Turning Point USA as the budget allocations were presented. Appropriations stalled for two weeks as SG representatives debated whether funding the organization would violate institutional neutrality. SG advisor Michael Shaw ultimately determined that withholding funds from UT’s chapter of Turning Point USA based on its ideology is prohibited political speech.