At their weekly Senate meeting on Wednesday, May 6, the Student Government Association (SGA) voted to approve the annual Student Activities Trust Fund (SATF) budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year (FY27).
Darren Truong, chair of the Ways and Means Committee, presented the allocation plan and discussed major increases in Registered Student Organization (RSO) funding. He also shared both previous and current results from the RSO feedback survey, with plans to improve both communication and support for RSOs.
“What I can say is that we’re ending in the green, but this is a [projected] surplus, not final,” Truong said.
Truong highlighted a 61% improvement in allocating requested funding amounts compared to the previous year, due to fewer across-the-board cuts to RSOs and agencies.
The projected surplus amount represents the unspent allowance that the SGA will likely have. The increased surplus amount suggests the SGA is financially stable and not operating at a deficit as they enter the next academic year.
After Truong’s presentation, Senators raised questions regarding future increases to SATF fees and if the increases would be necessary in order to sustain rising funding costs for RSOs.
“I don’t believe that we will need to raise the SATF for at least one to three years, based on the current financial projections,” Truong said. “I am also not aware of any major issues that would potentially require a fee raise.”
Chair of the Undergraduate Registry Oversight Committee (UROC) Will Hood and Vice Chair of UROC Faria Ashrafi also shared a presentation on the RSO feedback survey for 2026. The presentation revealed RSO satisfaction with support systems, as well as dilemmas with policies and communication.
Hood attributed RSO confusion with funding and budget guidelines to mid-year reforms.
“Hopefully those guidelines are a lot more clear now than they were when the survey was sent out,” Hood said.
The SGA also approved motions appointing students to leadership positions for the upcoming academic year, including five new elections commissioners: Abigail Brown, Sharvari Khedkar, Zainab Sheikh, Olivia Turowski and Kennedy Wade.
Several major committee chairs were also confirmed, including Ashrafi as the new Chair of UROC, Alixandra Coran as Chair of the Social Justice and Empowerment Committee and Sigrid Kim as Chair of the Outreach and Development Committee.
Joshua Svirsky, chair of the Undergraduate Services Committee, discussed his plans to improve break housing accessibility for all students, especially international students.
“It’s a big problem for international students having to pay for break housing and move all of their stuff out,” Svirsky said.
The SGA concluded their meeting by offering words of appreciation to outgoing SGA members. Truong was also awarded the Senatorial Medal of Honor for his commitment to the Ways and Means Committee and the undergraduate student body.
“I think Darren has distinguished himself through his care for others, as well his temperament,” Hood said. “In his position, it could be easy to get frustrated with people, but I think he’s really shown that beyond being a hard worker, he is one of the most caring people I’ve ever met.”
On Friday, May 5, the SGA senate convened again for their final meeting of the semester over Zoom. No new agenda items were addressed.
Gabrielle Pullen can be reached at g[email protected].
