How the Southeastern Louisiana University Student Government Association navigates their budget.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/02/2022

( HAMMOND, LA)  The President of the Student Government Association stated that regarding university grants, there are travel, organizational, and department grants that people can apply for. Each grant has a set amount of money that they can receive per grant.

“ A lot of people will usually come to me with a concern, or if there is a project that the  SGA as a whole wants to do and we need funding for it, I get the funding for it. I also cover the budget to know if we have the funding. It’s also my job to make sure with my director of financial affairs that what we spend is not over our budget,” Baileigh Picou said.

Picou also serves on a budget overseeing committee which is a committee that looks over all the student assessment fees to determine if the students are paying for something that they should not be paying for. 

“ The SGA has three budgets. We have our main budget which is everything that funds internal things. We have our assistant chip which covers everything we do for students such as events, programming, and grants. The assistant chip is one of our larger budgets, we always know how much money we are receiving because all of our budgets are funded by student assessment fees,” said Picou

When it comes to grants, they estimate how many people will apply for them, and budget that into their assistant chip. They use that money for any upcoming projects, events, and grants.

“People apply for our grants and we give them out, you can get $500 for a travel grant if you are traveling by yourself, $1,000 if you are traveling with more than two people, organizational grants are around $500, and you can get $1,000 for a departmental grant. Each person that applies for the grant, is granted the money if they have been approved,” said Picou.

 Their third budget is their capital outlay budget, which is another student assessment fee. It is their biggest budget because it funds campus beautification projects such as the Katrina fountain. 

An example of a departmental grant would be the department of World Languages and Cultures grant. French instructor Aileen Mootoo-Robertson applied for the grant for the department by meeting with the Vice President of the SGA. Shortly after, she completed the online application and met with the appropriation committee to explain why the department needed the funds. Lastly, she attended a Senate meeting where she re-explained the purposes. The SGA voted, and the Department of World Languages and Cultures was awarded the grant.

“ The grant is being used for International Night on Nov.14th and the students benefit because they are allowed to enjoy international foods. Food is a way of exploring cultures and for those who have not tasted international food, this is a perfect platform for them to experience it. I hope students will learn about other cultures and countries and celebrate cultural diversity. We want to especially celebrate our international students and show them that we are one big Southeastern family because in some cases, being able to travel abroad may not be possible,” says Robertson.

Robertson claims that International Night will bring culture to the students and hopes that perspectives on life will be broadened while having a great time. 

About the SGA: The Student Government Association is dedicated to the welfare of the student body, serves as a channel to communicate between the student body, faculty, and administration, executes projects to benefit the student body, and promotes the connections to both the local community and the student body. The SGA can be reached at sgapresident@southeastern.edu or by visiting the Student Union in room 2302 above the breezeway.

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