RSO Officers,
Thank you again for your continued patience on the release of these details! We recommend reading the entire email as it contains important information about the March 18th USG meeting and next steps for RSO budgets!
Allocations Released w/ Appeals
The Public Allocations Spreadsheet has been updated to include Column D for the appeal results. If an organization appealed and received a higher amount than was originally allocated, then the box shows as green! Organizations that did not partake in appeals have no change to their allocation and row.
The Ways and Means Committee has various factors that we based our decisions on for appeals. In total, 28 organizations appealed their allocation or a Line Item strike. In general, organizations that brought forward new, pressing, or details that would otherwise bring up a question of fact that leans in favor of the organization received an increased appeal. In addition, organizations that failed to participate in the regular Budget Hearings may request a budget during appeals.
Once again, to clarify, the Spreadsheet is shared via a public link, and you are permitted to share this outside of the RSO officers that are included on this email list. Allocations are not private information, and we are looking to take steps to make the Student Activity Fee more transparent and highlight what it’s being used on.
Final Appeal Opportunity: March 18th, 2026
On Wednesday, March 18th, 2026 (7PM in the MUB Alumni Lounge), we will be holding our Undergraduate Student Government meeting where we will be approving both the budgets and the allocations towards RSOs. This is the final opportunity to appeal (regardless of if you’ve appealed before), and we’ve set up a couple of key details. If you do not believe that the Ways and Means Committee has fairly represented your organization in the allocations, this opportunity will be for you to appeal in front of all ~29 USG representatives.
If you plan on appealing, please indicate that you will be appealing on this Google Form. You do not have to send in your appeal details beforehand – we simply just need to know who is appealing so we can call organizations in alphabetical order when we reach the item of business. Organizations that do not fill out this form can still fill this out at the meeting, but if we do not receive visual aids before 5PM on March 18th, we cannot put any visual aids on the slideshow.
Appealing Struck Line Items
If you disagree with the Ways and Means Committee striking a Line Item on your budget, you may appeal specifically to unstrike the Line Item. You will need to inform USG during your verbal appeal of which Line Items that you would like to be unstruck.
You will receive 5 minutes maximum of a verbal uninterrupted presentation and up to 5 slides of visual aids if you choose to use them. Slides must be sent by 5PM to usg-treasurer@mtu.edu on March 18th.
This appeal will happen first, as if USG decides to unstrike a Line Item, you will then have the opportunity to appeal your overall allocation if the striking of a Line Item made a difference.
Appealing Your Allocation
If you disagree with the Ways and Means Committee’s decision on how much money your club will be allocated, you may appeal specifically for a certain amount with reasoning behind what you are arguing for. You will need to inform USG during your verbal appeal of how much you are appealing for. USG reserves the right to deny, partially fund, or completely fund your appeal.
You will receive 3 minutes maximum of a verbal uninterrupted presentation and up to 1 slide of visual aids if you choose to use it. Your slide must be sent by 5PM to usg-treasurer@mtu.edu on March 18th.
You may appeal on any grounds, however, we would recommend coming with new and pressing information similar to the regular appeal process.
Extra Notes and Asterisks
There are some procedures as USG that we have to follow, and we have set up this overall process (with time and slide restrictions) to fairly represent all organisations that wish to appeal. Please see the additional notes that are hard to fit elsewhere.
- Every attempt will be made to expedite the meeting to allow for appeals to come early. The official start time of the meeting is 7PM, but we are required to get through our officer and advisor reports before getting to appeals.
- At its discretion, USG may vote to permit an organization extra uninterrupted time if it believes that the extra time will be helpful to the body
- To discourage passing out physical papers during the meeting, any time spent on passing physical materials will be counted as part of the “uninterrupted time” that you receive. A spot has been left in the Google Form linked above for publicly viewable digital documents that USG representatives will be given access to during the meeting.
- Every attempt will be made to set up USG to make decisions in a financially responsible manner with any excess “appeal” funds. However, USG has full power to grant as much or as little in appeals as it would like to. In that manner, USG may increase or decrease the allocation of any RSO before approving the allocation.
- The Treasurer (so, myself) will be responsible for representing the decision of the Ways and Means Committee. If you are appealing, you are appealing to all of USG, regardless of who was in the room during your Budget Hearing or appeal. Ways and Means Committee members have been informed that they do not have to uphold or defend their personal vote or committee position. Any and all questions that an organization would like to direct to the Ways and Means Committee should be directed to the Treasurer.
Questions, Concerns, or Whatnot
As always, I’m happy to help with any questions, concerns, or otherwise that arises from this email. If anything is confusing or unclear about the process at the USG meeting, please let me know, and then I can work with our E-Board to correct those confusions. These are uncharted waters for anyone who’s been on USG in recent years, and we appreciate your patience as we work to establish a process for fairly hearing out appeal requests during our general body meeting.