Due to problems such as lack of membership, leadership, and unfulfilled duties mandated by the Student Association, the SA Senate de-recognized 16 SA clubs by a unanimous vote Oct. 23. An additional three clubs were de-recognized by request.
According to SA Vice President Jennifer Brace, the 16 clubs involuntarily de-recognized by the Senate were: the Association of Health Oriented Students; Health and Human Services; Linguistics; Physical Therapy; Media; Dymaxion; North American Student Association; Italian Student Association; Irish Student Association; Amnesty International; Capoeira Camara; UB Comedy; Chess; EGATS!; Bowling and Badminton.
The clubs' failure to turn in paperwork and to attend a mandatory orientation and financial training meetings were some of the rules not met by the 16 clubs, Brace said.
"Prior to the Senate meetings, warning notices were sent to the clubs informing them of a possible de-recognition and the reasons for it," Brace said. "They had a chance to save their club any time before the meeting by coming to see me or even pleading their case at the meeting."
"This year, however, no club came to see me or showed up at the meeting prior to de-recognition," she said.
The three clubs which requested de-recognition were the UB Pep Band, the Living Water Campus Ministries and the Writer's Association. Living Water Campus Ministries and the Writer's Association wanted to dissolve the club because of lack of membership, said Brace, while the UB Pep Band was seeking to merge with the Division of Athletics and Student Affairs.
Jim Mauck, director of athletic bands, said the Division of Athletics and Student Affairs would be able to provide more money to the Pep Band.
"With over 60 members, we were getting too big for the SA," Mauck said. "The band needed more funds to hire a full-time director to steer the club forward and buy more instruments and provide transportation."
According to Kosta Botsoglou, former president of the Economics Club, which was de-recognized last fall, the main difficulty in keeping her club active was the time commitment required to plan successful events.
"You have to plan virtually months in advance to receive funds and provide ridiculous paperwork verifying your event," Botsoglous said. "This time consuming process deterred us from having more meetings. In addition, our club budget was minimal and required us to cover expenses out of our own pocket."
Because the Senate allocates club budgets and manages funds collected through the mandatory student activity fee, the SA Club Handbook states, the Senate is given the power to de-recognize under-performing clubs and organizations.
If club is de-recognized, it loses its budget, access to phone, postage, van and duplication privileges, office space and the ability to reserve spaces and rooms, according to the handbook.
Brace said money collected from defunct clubs is pooled into the Senate Allocation Fund, which usually contains $25,000 to $35,000 that can be distributed to clubs in good standing throughout the year in case of emergency financial predicaments.
Brace said the process of de-recognizing inactive clubs is part of an annual "housekeeping" routine that takes place approximately two months after school starts, enabling new and stronger clubs to grow and take advantage of unutilized resources.
"It's hard work maintaining a club and organizing events, and the SA should not waste student money on irresponsible clubs," said Olivia Grabowska, a sophomore and a member of the Polish SA.
According to Brace, even though a club may be de-recognized, prospective organizers are not barred from trying to restart it.
"Clubs that have been de-recognized can always be built back up from scratch," she said. "We will grant them temporary status, and they can achieve full permanent status again after one good semester."
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
