To accommodate the increased funding demands from radio and publications, the University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC) raised its funding caps to $5,000 for equipment and $10,000 for media -- a change from last year's combined cap of $1,800.
This year, UPAC was allotted $1,099,582 in student activity fee dollars to fund programs and travel for student groups and organizations.
"In the past, we had a lot of policy changes," said Dan Green, UPAC chairman. "We decreased some of our caps and became a little more stringent. We put a $1,800 cap on media and equipment combined. Now, we have separated that into two categories."
Eight groups fall under the "media" category, but Green said any student organization wanting to produce a newsletter or publication can request these funds.
Green said UPAC has known for some time that $1,800 wasn't enough.
"We listened to people. We were aware of it, but the constraints we were put under made it hard to change the policy," he said. "It takes a lot of review to change our policies, and people need to look into it."
UPAC's internal student relations team recently deemed the policy insufficient.
"It was a result of collecting information last year through our evaluation process. We have groups come back in for a follow-up evaluation and get feedback from them to gauge whether or not we are doing what's best for students," Green said. "From that process, a lot of publications were saying 'we can't print as many issues as we used to,' or 'it's hard for us to fundraise.' "
The Lion 90.7 FM, the student radio station in the HUB-Robeson Center, was one of the targets of the new policy.
"It's definitely a boost for us," said Tom Shakely, vice president of the Lion. "Our cap was just too low before. It's good to see the UPAC leadership being so trailblazing."
From 1995 to 2005, the amount of university money given to the radio station decreased to zero as the Lion's funding contract with Student Affairs for $25,000 a semester expired after the 2003-2004 school year, which increased the Lion's dependence on UPAC.
Last spring, the Lion received $28,000 from UPAC after having received an exemption to the $1,800 cap. Shakely said the Lion requires a minimum of $25,000 per year to fund costs of lawyers to renew their FCC license and broadcast liability insurance, a Penn State Office of Risk Management requirement.
"I'm pleased, but not overjoyed," Shakely said. "I am disappointed that there is still a cap, but I think it's much more reasonable. We will talk to UPAC leadership about anything else that might be possible."
Marian Hamilton, editor of Kalliope, said the literary magazine, which usually receives $1,800 from UPAC, will also benefit from the new caps. Hamilton said Kalliope prints 1,500 copies at the end of the spring semester, which costs between $4,000 to $5,000.
"It's a great thing that they've increased it," she said. "It is expensive. Any time you work with technology involved with producing, in our case a magazine, the cost goes up because technology is getting better. People are using things more and more to put out information about their groups, even if they're not doing a publication themselves."
