The Northern Star incorrectly reported that the Student Association allocated $1,052.17 to the Greek and cultural subcommittee for the 2016-17 academic year.

The SA actually allocated $51,052.17 to the Greek and cultural subcommittee.

The Student Association Senate approved legislation that allocates funds for subcommittees for the 2016-17 academic year at a meeting Sunday.

The total projected funds allocated for university services are $1,330,356.42. Sports and recreation received $100,000, $1,052.17 for Greek and cultural, $23,562.54 for academic and professional, $35,186.73 for general programming and activities and $30,000 for the security fund. The projected funding, approved in a 28-1-1 vote, would be coming from student fees.

Program prioritization task force

SA Senate Speaker Dillon Domke said he plans to establish a committee to discuss applicants for the program prioritization student task force. He hopes to have four students in addition to himself on the committee.

Program prioritization, which began in 2014, uses task forces to create reports that review 223 academic programs and 236 administrative programs to influence the allocation of university funds, according to the program prioritization website. The student task forces will review them for the final two weeks of the semester. There will be an academic task force and an administrative task force that will each have a total of ten students including a task force chair.

As of Sunday, 64 applications have been submitted for a position on the program prioritization student task forces.

HB2990

In a unanimous vote, the SA Senate approved their support for House Bill 2990, which would fully fund Monetary Award Program grants and appropriate about $85.2 million to NIU for Fiscal Year 2016 compared to about $93 million received for FY 2015.

The bill includes funding for all higher education, including community colleges and includes other things such as funding for the Department of Public Health and Department of Transportation.

The bill passed the House of Representatives with a 70-43-1 vote Thursday.

SA members plan to coordinate a lobbying event in Springfield to discuss this legislation and others with state lawmakers, Domke said.