Due to changes in the Student Activities Funding Board bylaws, student organization funding could be affected in the future.

One of the changes SAFB is considering is a proposal which would pave the way for service and volunteer organizations to use conference funds to pay for travel and lodging on volunteer trips.

According to SAFB Chairman Brandon Hanna, it has been difficult in the past for volunteer organizations to get funding for travel and lodging because they generally do not have registration fees.

SAFB regulations currently only allow conference funds to be used for registration and fees. Opening up travel and lodging funds for volunteer organizations would enable them to benefit from these funds for the first time.

Under the current regulations, payment for travel and lodging out of SAFB funds is not permitted under any circumstances.

Student Body President Samantha Wolf said a change like this might get more students involved in volunteering.

“All of those trips are extremely expensive to be doing these volunteer opportunities and a lot of students get deterred from doing it because it’s so expensive,” Wolf said.

Hanna said SAFB would want to make sure this was financially feasible before implementing such a proposal.

Another possibility would be to give student organizations more flexibility in how they can spend discretionary funds, which amount to $400 per semester per group.

The maximum amount of funding any student organization can receive is $3,000. Under the proposed bylaw change, student organizations would have to have 15 members registered on GrizzOrgs in order to be eligible for full funding.

Although the Board received more funding than ever this year to fund student organizations, which was attributed to a growth in enrollment, Hanna expects SAFB money to be tight.