As the semester comes to an end, Project’s Board is also coming to the end of its semester budget. Several groups have reported receiving less or no funding in the final weeks of the semester, leading to speculation about the status of the Projects Board budget. The Daily Princetonian spoke with USG and Projects Board representatives, as well as student group leaders to understand how this happened.
Projects Board funding was a major point of discussion at the March 25 USG meeting. Projects Board Co-Chairs Ava Seigel ’26 and Joanna Tafolla ’26 led a 20-minute presentation, where they highlighted a significant increase in event requests over the years, averaging to over 20 requests per week, and a notable rise in funding requests above $750 this semester.
The USG Projects Board is responsible for distributing funds for student events. This year, the USG approved an overall budget of $645,047.21, of which $130,000 was allocated to Project’s Board funding.
During the last two weeks of March, student groups reported to the ‘Prince’ receiving decreased or no funding for events. Yet, during the March 25 meeting, the co-chairs announced the introduction of a new pre-check process aimed at streamlining the approval process. For requests totaling $750 and below, groups would be allowed to bypass in-person approval interviews after a preliminary review.
Under the old system, groups submitted a Student Activities Funding Engine application by Monday at midnight, and signed up for a Thursday meeting with the Projects Board committee for events at least two weeks in advance.
Mya Ramhi ’26, treasurer of Princeton Caribbean Connection (PCC) said in an interview with the ‘Prince’ that she applied for funding for PCC’s biggest event of the semester, Spring Carnival, and received $750. This number is significantly lower than funding they have received for similar events in previous semesters. In the fall semester, PCC received $7,000 for the Big Futures Caribbean Conference.
Ramhi says student officers prefaced the meeting by saying, “we have an influx of student events, so we may not be able to cover the event as much as we’d like to,” so she was expecting the decreased funding.
Hayk Yengibaryan ’26, co-president of the Armenian Society, told the ‘Prince’ that when he applied for funding the last week of March for a speaker event on April 24, they received only 20 percent of what they requested. He said the Projects Board committee explained to him that funding was limited and they were running low on funds.
“I was told that more money was requested in a week than all of last semester. Due to this, my student organization has had to spend a lot of time trying to get different funding sources and it’s been a much more difficult and time consuming process,” Yengibaryan said.
Yengibaryan is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince’.
One group failed to receive a funding decision and reached out via email for the result, only to learn they would receive no funding. The student and group wished to remain anonymous.
“Unfortunately, due to the volume of funding requests we have received this semester and funding timeline compliances, we are unable to fund your request. Please consider applying to alternative funding sources such as academic departments if you need additional funding to be able to hold your event,” the email read.
Uma Fox ’26, treasurer of USG, shared in an interview with the ‘Prince’ that Projects Board saw an uptick in demand this semester. She explains USG is still trying to figure out the “cause” of this increase.
Fox shares that, given the heightened demand, USG contemplated what to do should the Projects Board need more money.
“There was never a situation where we thought, ‘Oh, we’re not going to be able to fund Projects Board,’ but instead the question of what we need to transfer from something else,” Fox said.
USG ultimately transferred $10,000 from the USG’s specified travel fund, where they were seeing “less traction.”
As of Monday, the Projects Board has approximately $14,000 in spendable balance, according to Fox. “We’ve never gotten to a point where that was close to zero. It was always above 5k for the rest of the semester.”
Fox says she had heard from classmates that people believed the Projects Board had run out of money.
“When you look at the numbers … we have an allocated amount of $130,000 for projects per semester, which is a staggering number. So to then be like, oh, there’s only like $10,000 left for the rest of the semester sounds and feels really, like scary and dramatic,” Fox added.
Fox clarified that the service is first-come, first-serve, so most requests are fulfilled towards the beginning of the semester. This explains the lower amount of funds at the end of the semester.
Projects Board co-chairs Seigel and Tafolla wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince,’ “The Projects Board is nearing the end of its allocated funding for the year as expected. The Projects Board is still giving full consideration to each eligible request it receives and is supporting requests to the fullest extent possible."
Fox also shared that the USG is looking towards possibly changing their relationship with the Projects Board so that the treasurer and USG Senate might take on a more “active role.”
Bridget O’Neill is a head News editor for the ‘Prince.’
Assistant News editor Elisabeth Stewart contributed reporting.
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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