Colten Sneed
News Editor
Most student organizations need funding. To receive that funding at TJC, they must appeal to the Student Services Fee Allocation Committee or ‘SSFAC.’
“It is a group of students and two faculty members who gather together each semester to decide, essentially, how the student service fees are allocated,” said Director of Student Life Lauren Tyler
Each organization that presents its case to the committee first sends in a proposal. In the proposal, the organization decides on how they want to use the money. The form is available to the organizations for a month, then the committee will prepare for a couple of weeks, and the organizations will present their case over a two-day span.
“We average about 20 to 25 organizations that came and presented to the committee each semester. The money is used for conferences, an event that the organization wants to host or whatever it may be. Every group is completely different in a lot of ways,” Tyler said.
The organizations have five minutes to present their case to the committee. Once their presentation is complete, the committee then has another five minutes of questions for the group. On Feb. 2 and 3, the organizations gave their presentation to the committee, hoping to persuade the committee to allocate them the money they have asked for.
“The committee is there for the meeting from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day. Friday they are in there until they decide how the money is allocated,” said Tyler.
The student service fee pays for many of the popular activities that the campus hosts for the students. Compared to other local colleges, Tyler Junior College is one of the few that have a student service fee.
“It puts TJC in a great position to be able to do what we do and to have a vibrant student life by having a student service fee. There are a lot of area colleges that do not have a student service fee that are really struggling to do some of the things that we are doing,” said Tyler. “Honestly, they just don’t have the financial support to do that.”
Some of the events funded are the Spring Show, Winter Wonderland and the different conferences that students can attend.
“A lot of the things students love about TJC and all of the things that we offer is paid for by the student service fee. It really sets us apart from some of the other colleges in the area because we can provide those awesome events,” said Tyler.
One such organization is the Baptist Student Ministry, or BSM. Dr. Mark Jones, director of the BSM, plans to use the money for many of the group’s upcoming events.
“We will use the money to lower the cost of our mission trip to Orange, Texas, around the Beaumont area. Not only that, but we will also use the money for our outreach program where we offer pancakes and bacon every Thursday night,” said Jones. “We are also hoping to host an international night. We did this a few years ago and it was a huge hit as we had many students from all around the world come.”
The student service fee is paid by every student that attends Tyler Junior College. The fee is $2 per credit hour, up to a maximum charge of $25.
