Many of you have limited or perhaps less-than-stellar impressions of the Allocations Board. The fact is we have the unfortunate task of saying no. No one likes to say no. In an ideal world, we would just be the people who constantly give you money for events. In our less than ideal world, we receive over $2 million in requests each year and only have a budget of $450,000. We just can't fund every event or every cost, but we can constant discuss how to fund fairly. Flip it around and we're a board of undergraduates single-handedly managing $450,000. That $450,00 is a chunk of the Undergraduate Student Fee every student pays, and it is the biggest chunk of that money controlled directly by the students.
Membership on the AB is open to all BU undergraduates. We know many of you (especially those of you checking YouDo) are heavily involved already, but the experience student group leaders bring to the table is invaluable to our discussions. Even if you are already spread too thin, I encourage you to mention AB membership to freshmen, sophomores and juniors who want to make an impact on-campus during their time at BU.
Consider joining the AB and deciding where your money should go. Learn about all of the student groups on campus, all of the amazing events, how to better improve your own programming, and join the discussion about what to fund and how to enrich on-campus programming. We invite you to stop by the SAO Delaware Room (3rd floor) at 5:45 any Monday night to chat with us and see what goes on during a Board meeting!
In the meantime, check out our site at bu.edu/allocate or the blog at bu.edu/allocate
