The University Park Undergraduate Association has run into an unexpected task: how to spend $6,000.

A lack of a budget has hindered the fledgling University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) for most of this year, but that problem was remedied last week when it was supplied with funding from the Office of Student Affairs.

Mallory Gold, UPUA media relations director, said the money was intended to fund the elections and to "jumpstart the organization." Before receiving the funding, UPUA had $350 in its account that was not earmarked for any purpose.

Jay Chamberlin, UPUA president, said the funding was something UPUA had discussed with the Office of Student Affairs since the beginning of the year. He said the money would mostly be used for operational items and for reimbursement to UPUA members for things they had bought for the association by paying out of their own pockets.

"It's going to help UPUA purchase a number of things that will help it become more functional," Chamberlin said.

UPUA has also approved a $2,500 budget for the election commission to have at its disposal.

Shawn Gordon, deputy commissioner for candidacy, said, based on his past experiences as an election commissioner for the 2005 Undergraduate Student Government (USG) elections, the budget was "reasonable."

"We submitted the financial needs that we know we have," he said. "We're confident we have the support of the organization, and they will give us additional funding if we need it."

UPUA recently requested $32,150 in funding from the Fee Allocation Board (FAB), but it will not receive any funding from FAB until next year. UPUA could also receive $25,000 in assets from USG if the two groups successfully merge.

Doreen Strauss, chairwoman of the special events and programming committee, said the committee hopes to use some of the money as well.

"We're kind of excited to see what we can do with some funding," she said.

She said one specific thing the committee wants to use the money for is to plan a UPUA retreat. The committee tried to plan a retreat earlier in the year, but didn't have enough funding.

"With a group like UPUA, where there's so many opinions, this is something we need," she said. "People will gain a better appreciation for other perspectives."