Club members from the NVU-Lyndon American Meteorological Society Chapter and the Lyndon Gaming Community stood before the Student Government Association Wednesday night to present budget requests, $12,500 and $1,141.22, respectively. The SGA general board approved both proposals, but it is now up to the student body to approve AMS’s funding request.
AMS President Gabby Brown presented first, looking for an additional $12,500 to help the club host the annual Northeastern Strom Conference. This would be the 48th annual conference, the largest and longest-running student-led conference of its kind. Brown explained that NESC is a research and professional development-based conference looking to connect students with resources and tools to succeed in their careers.
Brown described last year’s conference as an “incredible success,” with nearly 300 in-person attendees, dozens of whom were first-timers.
However, returning to an in-person conference after making digital modifications during the height of the pandemic, Brown says it “took a lot more of our budget.” AMS usually starts the academic year with a budget of over $30,000, but this year, it started at around $22,000. Brown says this request would put the club “back on track,” and AMS is prepared to put their own $12,500 into the conference.
The $12,500 funding request encompasses several costs of NESC. This includes $8,000 to reserve the hotel conference space, and cover lodging and food for Lyndon attendees; $2,000 for van transportation for Lyndon students and flights for professional attendees and speakers; and $1,500 for the online conference platform Eventee, which is cheaper than the platform used two years ago. AMS is also looking for $1,000 for merchandise such as booklets, notebooks, and pens.
Before making this funding request, Brown says she reached out to other clubs on campus to see how a request of this size would affect them. From this, she shared with the SGA that she received a lot of encouragement and positive feedback.
The SGA general board moved to pass the budget request. Because the request is over $10,000, the request must now be approved by the student body. At least ten percent of the current NVU-Lyndon student body must vote, which a simple majority must approve for AMS to receive the funds.
Members of the Lyndon Gaming Community’s executive board then stepped up before the student government to present their own budget request of $1,141.22 for games and other club materials. “Shadow Executive” Jordan Luce shared that “throughout my four years, we never officially had stock,” and previous members brought everything in. President Jonah Plazek said that this model isn’t working.
“We cannot sustain this club without this funding.” -Jonah Plazek, Lyndon Gaming Community President
The club’s request for funds would cover materials needed to support their regular meeting activities, including Wednesday’s “Board Game/Card Game” Night, Friday’s “Video Game” Night, and Saturday’s “Dungeons and Dragons” Night.
To use on Wednesdays, club treasurer Jonathan Chambers proposed the purchase of Monopoly, Bretwalda, Cards Against Humanity, and Settlers of Catan. All of these games would entertain larger groups, Chambers said, and are open to more students.
For Friday nights, Chambers presented the cost of an Xbox One S, two additional controllers, and some video games for the console, including Halo, Call of Duty, and Mortal Combat. He said these games were popular amongst current members, and buying a console and controllers would allow more students to participate. Although most of these items would come from Amazon and have free shipping through Prime accounts, the Lyndon Gaming Community also factored shipping costs of around $100 for other vendors into the price, like GameStop.
Chambers says Saturday nights are the “most important night” for the club. To run a more interactive Dungeons and Dragons campaign, Lyndon Gaming Community asked for around ten books, expo markers, dice sets, and miniature figures.
Twilight Players SGA Representative Brett Violet asked how the Lyndon Gaming Community would ensure their new equipment, like the Xbox, would last a long time. Plazek said that as club president, he would hold onto the club’s belongings, with labels on everything, and hopes to establish a sign-out process later. SGA President Quinlan Peer also stepped in and said that the executive board was looking at purchasing lockers for all clubs to store their stuff in the near future.
With this question answered, the student government general board motioned and approved the Lyndon Gaming Community’s funding request.