Written by Emily Carmela Nelson, Olivia Brandon and Grace Stark:
For years, members of the Nuclear Energy Club attended the American Nuclear Society Student Conference, a career-advancing opportunity that invites students nationwide to experience the field of nuclear science and technology.
Gabe Guthrie, president of the club, hoped to take 10 members to the conference this year. As the club had historically relied on Direct Grants from the Student Funding Board (SFB), they were left in a bind after discovering all available funds had been awarded in September, receiving only $400 out of the $4,000 they expected to receive.
“Since Boise State doesn’t have a nuclear engineering degree, that is the best way for our students to be able to get involved in that industry,” Guthrie said. “For the time being, we’ve had to cancel that event this year just due to the lack of funding.”
“[The Nuclear Energy Club has] been affected in the short term very drastically,” Guthrie added. “A majority, I would say, over 75% of our funding has come through ASBSU. In the short term, it’s been pretty devastating for our club.”
Guthrie is currently seeking additional financial support for his club through programs such as the Micron Student Success Center, but noted those resources have become more competitive in funding due to various other clubs seeking the same resources.
“It’s really difficult for me to find the funding because, on top of being a senior and juggling all of my course load, I have to now do more stuff just to get the same funding we had for our club [in previous years],” he said.
The Student Funding Board (SFB), the body of ASBSU responsible for allocating grants to students and student organizations, allows registered student organizations to apply for Direct Grants each July. Direct Grants award student organizations up to $4,000 to fund events, activities or travel.
To apply for a direct grant, a grant hearing needs to be completed 8 weeks prior to when the funding would be spent. The application process includes preparing a budget, submitting a request, attending a hearing and utilizing the funds.
All student organizations were eligible to receive a $400 Startup Direct Grant until Sept. 17, with the stipulation that this money be spent before Oct. 31 and would come out of the total $4,000.
According to Natalie Rivera, Associate Vice President of Financial Affairs, the SFB awarded 100 direct grants to student organizations during the 2024-25 academic year. This year, that number dropped to 27, with the board being unable to accept additional Direct Grants for the remainder of the academic year after Sept. 23.
When asked if Rivera knew there would be a lower budget of funds to disperse to student organizations in comparison to previous academic years, she said “yes and no”. After taking a leave of absence, she returned to the board and proceeded operations under a first-come-first-serve basis, distributing over $50,000 in Startup Grants.
In an email sent to all clubs and organizations regarding the funding deficit, the SFB attributed the pause to this distribution.
“This equitable approach to grant funding has reduced the amount available for Direct Grants,” the email read. “Due to high demand and limited budget, we are unable to accept additional direct grant applications for the remainder of the 2025-25 academic year. We understand this may disappoint those who have counted on this funding in the past.”
In an interview with The Arbiter, Rivera described the budget deficit as a return to the way the budget looked pre-COVID, rather than a decrease in funding.
“From COVID, [the Funding Board] had a surplus of money, because during that time — the pandemic — clubs weren’t able to do many things, because obviously we couldn’t have contact with each other,” Rivera said. “There was no traveling, no team bonding events, so the Funding Board [those years] couldn’t fund any money, and if they could it was very rare.”
This surplus of money, pulled from carry forward funds from the pandemic and distributed in subsequent years, resulted in ASBSU needing to balance its budget to cover an unforeseen deficit of $130,573. $131,000 was cut from the SFB’s total budget, with $101,000 of that sum coming directly from the Direct Grant budget.
“Part of the confusion was no one knew how much money we actually had in our carry forward, because it had been utilized since post-COVID for the funding board to continue giving as [many] grants as possible,” Isaac Celedon, Student Body President, added. “[Members of ASBSU] don’t control those numbers. It’s the staff who have all the backend knowledge and can see it logistically.”
“Last year, there was a leadership change in that office — one of the staff members retired early, and so the carry forward number was never really confirmed,” Celedon continued. “This year, we had projected [we had more money] than we actually had, so that office communicated that they didn’t have the number we once thought we did.”
Charlie Varland, Associate Dean of Students, acts as a member of ASBSU’s Financial Support Staff, as outlined in the Financial Code.
“Each year, staff from the Student Involvement and Leadership Center and Shared Business Services departments work closely with ASBSU on the development and management of its budget. We provide guidance on financial planning, oversight and compliance with university and state policies, all of which promotes the responsible use of student fees,” Varland wrote.
“We also respect ASBSU’s autonomy in setting its agenda and goals. This includes decisions by ASBSU on its budget, which is built by the student leaders with support staff before being presented to and voted upon by the ASBSU General Assembly and Academic Senate. Staff have been working closely with ASBSU on ways to navigate its current budgetary challenges. We are invested in supporting them in both the short and long term planning.”
Stephen Harmon, Kinesiology Club president, said the club was notified of the deficit by email in September while they were preparing to pitch their funding request.
While the club uses its funding for campus events and club activities, the majority of its budget funds a trip to the annual American College of Sports Medicine Meeting (ACSM) in Moscow each academic year. Now that the club has missed the accelerated deadline, they are left unsure how to move forward and acquire necessary funds for the trip.
“We [request funding] a little later than a lot of clubs because we need to know our information for ACSM,” Harmon said. “That’s why we didn’t ultimately end up getting it — because we didn’t feel ready to talk in front of the board. We didn’t have the dates that we [would be] going or how many people are going.”
With a lack of funding for events, the club has shifted to planning fundraising events. Harmon noted while the club feels optimistic about receiving donations and support from alumni and the community, they feel hesitant about holding events and asking other students for donations.
Still, for clubs like Guthrie’s, losing out on travel and other opportunities is disheartening.
“It raises the question for a lot of people: what is the point of being in these organizations?” Guthrie said. “There’s nothing to do or show for it. We can still do outreach into the community to raise awareness of nuclear energy, but that’s really about all we can do at this point in time.”
“For students who want to be involved in the industry, it’s one thing to go raise awareness at a local high school, but it’s a whole other to actually get connected with people in the industry,” he said.
