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This page provides an overview of the Student Senate funding process.  All funding requests require at least two weeks for fulfillment. This timeline runs from when funding is approved, not when it is requested.

Our funding process has four steps:

1. Preparing a budget of items you would like Student Senate to provide, such as event supplies, catering, and third-party services.
2. Submitting your funding request for review. We take all submissions through forms on Rock Chalk Central. Find “Student Senate Funding Application” or “Community Development Funding Request,” followed by the appropriate year. If you are applying for Wednesday-Night Funding, you will also need to complete a legislation template and upload this through Rock Chalk Central.
3. Presenting your request to our student representatives. Here, you’ll be given the opportunity to explain the goals of your organization and how funding from Student Senate will allow you to improve student life. The exact presentation process varies by the source of funds.
4. Coordinating your purchases and payments with our executive staff. Our Treasurer oversees allocations from Wednesday-Night Funding. Our Fund Development Director oversees allocations from Community Development Funding. We rely on support from career funding coordinators for all requests, who will discuss the details of your budget with KU’s finance and accounting staff.

Most funding requests are submitted during the academic year for events later that year — for example, a request submitted in October for an event in November. We provide two sources of funds.

• Wednesday-Night Funding. These requests are processed through our legislative branch (which meets on Wednesday evenings each week) and serve all clubs across campus. The meeting schedule is available on our front page. Wednesday-night funding will provide around $80,000 during the 2024–25 academic year. Wednesday-Night Funding was formerly called the Student Senate Unallocated Account.
• Community Development Funding. These requests are processed through a special-purpose board of students. The Community Development Fund was created to provide dedicated support to multicultural student organizations. It provides less funding overall — $70,000 during the 2023–24 academic year — but allows more flexibility. Community Development Funding was formerly called Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Funding.

Bulletins

November 29, 2023. Wednesday-night funding for food will be limited to $500 per academic year for each student organization. This change was made by Bill 2024-051, an amendment to the Student Senate Constitution. The change does not apply to the DEI Fund, which will continue to limit food without a culinary tradition to $500 per semester.

November 16, 2023. Funds may not be used for Canva Pro subscriptions for the foreseeable future. This change is due to complications with the payment processes used by KU and Canva.

Submission Deadlines 2024–2025