The AU Student Government is offering transportation subsidies of up to $500 per semester for clubs and organizations that cannot travel to events with AUTO vans.
Groups funded by Student Activities fees can apply for the subsidy to help cover travel costs such as rental car fees or airfare.
Under the AUTO program, student organizations can use AUTO vans to attend events less than 50 miles away. Students must rent cars or buses for events farther than 50 miles.
The subsidy aims to help student groups attend events outside of AUTO’s distance limits.
“We have a lot of student organizations that go away from AU and are representing us ... and we want to make sure they can get to those places and finances aren’t holding them back,” said SG President Andy MacCracken. MacCracken approves the subsidy requests since the initiative falls within his control over the SG budget.
SG set aside $5,000 to $6,000 for the transportation subsidy initiative this year, MacCracken said. Nothing in the SG general budget was cut to make room for the subsidy program, he said in a follow-up e-mail.
A similar program last year allowed student groups to rent performance spaces in Katzen Arts Center and Greenberg Theatre as if they were external clients. This year, the university took over the arts space rental subsidy, making room for the transportation initiative in the SG budget, MacCracken said. With increased enrollment at AU, the SG budget also expanded by 5.8 percent, he said.
Ed Levandoski, the treasurer for AU’s Model United Nations, applied for the subsidy when he heard of the program. Attending a conference at the University of Pennsylvania costs $2,000 in transportation alone, he said in an e-mail.
“Any amount from Student Government will allow us to compete in the competition with a lesser financial burden on the students,” he said.
The initiative is a pilot program, MacCracken said, and may be expanded in the future. Already, a few organizations, such as Model U.N., have applied for subsidies, he said.
Greek Life and Club Sports cannot currently apply for the transportation subsidy.
Right now, there is not enough money for all student organizations to receive a transportation subsidy, MacCracken said.
“If we see the clubs aren’t utilizing it as much as we expected, we will open it up [to more organizations] next semester,” he said.
To include Club Sports, SG may join with the Club Sports program in the future, possibly creating a matching program, MacCracken said. Under the program, if Club Sports wanted to set aside $1,000 specifically for transportation subsidies, for example, SG would match the amount with $1,000.
Nicole Davies and Rebecca Prowler, co-presidents of the club field hockey team, said Club Sports should also be able to apply for the transportation subsidy.
“We all use AUTO, so we should all have an equal chance to receive additional funds to cover transportation expenses,” they said in an e-mail. “Club sports represent AU on the most basic level, so we should be able to represent AU in the best light when traveling to play other schools.”
The team often travels outside of AUTO’s 50-mile radius, they said. Usually the team tries to use athletic vans, which are free to the clubs except for gas. If not, they rent vans, which cost about $85 per day, Davies and Prowler said.
Krysi Hermes, president of the women’s rugby team, said the team already had three games this semester that were outside the AUTO radius. Travel is the team’s biggest cost even though Club Sports helps with rental car prices, she said in an e-mail.
“I hope that SG is really including Club Sports because we have the same financial needs as other clubs at AU,” Hermes said. “We do a lot of fundraising already to off-set costs and even something like a matching program would really help us be able to spend money on other things we need.”
The program is one aspect of a two-part initiative to increase transportation options for students, MacCracken said. The other half of the initiative aims to lower the Zipcar age requirement to 18-years-old.
Student groups should apply for the subsidy at least four weeks before their event.
You can reach this staff writer at landerson@theeagleonline.com.
