UOSA (The University of Oklahoma Student Association) funding, to begin with, is a system of distributing a certain portion of the Student Activity Fee to student organizations on campus with the intention of promoting and supporting nonacademic programs and services for students. The programs and services provided operate on both very large and very small scales. From the smallest special interest group with a few members, to the largest functions on campus, almost any student run activity is at least partially funded by UOSA. The number of groups that apply for funds has grown to around 150. Because there are so many groups and activities on campus, it's easy to find a UOSA funded function going on around campus. Though many of these functions may not fit the interests of a particular student, the University and UOSA facilitate an environment that makes it extremely easy to get involved on campus and get to know others with similar interests through student organizations. To see a list of registered student organizations on campus, click here.

The Student Activity Fee is the principal source of UOSA general funding. 18.4% or about $600,000 of the Student Activity Fee that is collected by the University is turned over to UOSA to further appropriate to Student Organizations. The Student Activity Fee is currently $5.15 per credit hour, or $77.25 for a student taking 15 hours. Of that $77.25, about $14.21 is given to UOSA. We do our best to make sure that expense offers a great deal of opportunity for every student.

A "registered student organization" means that the group has registered with and met the requirements of the Center for Student Life. Additionally, UOSA requires that an organization has been registered for at least one full year to be considered eligible for UOSA funding. To see the requirements for student organizations, click here. To go to the Center For Student Life website, click here.

Organizations can be formed by any student for nearly any purpose or interest. Whether it be cultural, political, religious, special interest, academic, service, honorary, or recreational/hobby, there is an organization to fit virtually any student's interest. Often organizations are formed to help students within a particular major become involved in their department and eventually locate a job. There are groups that are formed to make competitive teams, both athletically and academically. Cultural groups do an amazing job of helping the student body become more aware of how the various ethnicities represented on campus. There are groups on campus doing everything from building robots for fun to promoting human rights and a better environment.

Once an organization is formed, has met the Center for Student Life requirements, and has been on campus for a year, the organization may want to apply for funding from UOSA. While the money UOSA is allocated isn't enough to completely fulfill the requests of most groups, we do our best to distribute the funds in a manner that allows organizations to maximize their impact on OU students.

Our application is basically a blank budget that each organization fills in. We separate the funds that we allocate into two categories: 1. Office & General Expenses and 2. Programs, Events, and Activities(aka PEA). For each, we list several categories of expenses and groups fill in the blanks with the specific items they wish to purchase within those categories. A budget can be difficult to put together for the first time. For that reason, you'll be able to find help several ways. A group should start by reading the Account Handbook. There you will find what a group is and isn't allowed to purchase with their funds. Additionally, you'll find a worksheet to help plan an event. This should help groups figure out what they should budget for. Perhaps the best help a group can get with their budget is through SOFA, The Student Organization Funding Advisors. SOFA is a student organization that exists just to help other organizations obtain funding from sources like UOSA. To contact SOFA, click here.

The budget application that groups fill out goes to the UOSA Budgetary Committee. This is a standing committee made up of the members of the Ways and Means Committee of Student Congress, plus one member from the Graduate Student Senate. Applications are all evaluated fairly and equally by the committee according to specific criteria. Each organization that applies is required to complete an interview with the committee. The committe evaluates each group based on the information given in their interview and their budget. The list of criteria, which is linked above, is written in Student Government legislation titled The Budgetary Procedures Act, which can be found by clicking here.

Once the Budgetary Committee has completed the process of allocating funds, its decisions are sent to the UOSA Student Congress and UOSA Graduate Student Senate to be voted on. Once approved by each house, it is then sent to the OU Regents, where it must also be approved.

After the appropriations are completed in the fall, funds are deposited into each organization's account on January 1 and remain there to be used until December 31 of the same year. Funds not used by most organizations go back to the committee to be re-allocated during the next budgetary process. For groups that wish to appeal their allocation in the fall or simply did not apply, there is another allocation process in the spring (which functions exactly like the one in the fall) called the Subsidiary Allocations Process.