The Barometer Online

Issue date: 6/1/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Cory Reed Former OSU Student Foundation president Erick Edtl and current president Cody Alderich attend a group meeting Friday in the Allworth Conference Room.

The OSU Student Foundation, the monetary savior for many groups on campus, ran out of money for the first time in its history this year.

The OSU Student Foundation, which was founded in 1973, is allotted a grant of $40,000 to distribute as they see fit among recognized student groups on campus.

The purpose of the OSU Student Foundation, according to Erick Edtl, the 2008-09 Student Foundation president, is to provide students an opportunity to do something they want, while also making an impact at OSU.

For groups to be considered for funding by the Student Foundation, they first must become a registered group through the MU, and no group can receive funding two years in a row, because there are not enough funds available.

Groups who want to be considered for funding are highly encouraged to come in as soon as they know that they're in need. Although the grant for the Student Foundation grew by $15,000 this year, the Foundation ran out of funds completely for the first time in their history.

Funding hasn't been increased for next year, so students are encouraged to apply in the fall. During the fall term, the Student Foundation was able to fund 93 percent of their requests, according to Edtl. However, in the spring that number was down to only 23 percent, because the money had ran out by the end of the year.

"We were unaware that requesting money earlier in the year (could) result in more money," said Kathy Han, team leader of the OSU Solar Vehicle Team, and the last group to apply for funding this year. According to Han, the Solar Vehicle team needed funding to purchase lithium ion batteries with energy density.

The OSU Student Foundation has been trying to grow and increase visibility in order to make students aware of the opportunity they might be missing out on. Edtl says some programs have grants as big as $150,000, and he'd like to see this group get that big someday. This would eliminate the need for groups to wait every other year to apply.

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