The All-Square Student Budget Allocation Committee and the Student Senators Council announced on Sept. 26 that NYU clubs will be receiving increased funding this year.

ASSBAC chair and Steinhardt senior Jessica Hawk said she has worked with her committee and SSC to get more money out of the university budget, stating that the previous budget allocations were unreasonable.

“I was not comfortable with the number that we were given by NYU administration,” Hawk said. “It was an unsustainable expectation. When clubs received their budgets, they were shocked.”

Hawk said other NYU administrators are concerned about clubs receiving the funding they require in order to be functional and productive.

“When ASSBAC was originally given the budget by the Division of Student Affairs, it didn’t increase to what we needed it to, to support club life,” Hawk said. “With the budget we were given, it felt like we were being placed in the position of telling students no. That’s when we started reaching out to upper administration.”

Hawk added that the extra funding was provided by multiple offices within NYU’s administration that also believed student clubs were not being allocated enough money.

The extra money has been used to both increase funding for all NYU clubs and increased funding for contingency requests. Hawk said student clubs can request money from this budget throughout the year to cover costs of unanticipated events or fees that clubs may not have previously planned for.

Singapore Students Association president and Stern junior Timothy Lui said he appreciated the increased funding provided by NYU.

“As we are a large club, additional funding is always welcome,” Lui said. “We haven’t had to do much for the extra funding. It was just given to us as is.”

In order to receive funding, however, clubs are required to submit their constitutions, listing out requirements for membership, dictating the number of officers required per general member, describing leadership roles and providing a mission statement. Student Activities Board chair and Gallatin junior Michael Hengerer said the requirement was not meant to withhold funding.

“This is by no means meant to be an imposition or a punitive measure to clubs, but rather a way to help club leaders be successful and effective in leading their clubs and organizations,” Hengerer said.

Hengerer added that 182 of the over 300 clubs at NYU do not have a constitution, so the measure was added to ensure clubs would be well-organized.

Catherine Ye, CAS senior and editor-in-chief of NYU magazine generasia, said she was glad to receive the extra funding her club has been awarded and had no problem with being compelled to renew their constitution.

“I appreciate NYU increasing our budget,” Ye said. “It is important for every club to set forth guidelines for its organization and leadership, and this constitution submission just forced us all to do it sooner than we might have done ourselves.”

A version of this article appeared in the Thursday, Oct. 2 print edition. Email Shirley Foo at [email protected].