Every year, NIU charges everyone from law students to undergrads a student activity fee in addition to their tuition.

Undergrads pay $3.15, grads pay $1.35 and law students pay $2.04 per credit hour in student activity fees annually. These figures may seem miniscule at first, but they do add up.

Naturally, students are curious about where their money is going and what their money is funding.

From these student activity fees, the Student Association accumulates $1.5 million annually to disperse among 70 different organizations on campus. The SA deems the amount of funding each organization receives.

“We have a committee that determines who money will be allocated to,” SA treasurer Karega Harris said. “Depending on the organization size and how much funding is needed is all considered when we determine how much we’ll give them.”

Harris said the SA funds a broad spectrum of organizations, excluding religious, political and social fraternities and sororities.

“We fund groups from RHA to the Japanese Student Association,” Harris said.

For the first time the SA has appointed an accountant to monitor how the students’ money is being spent.

“My biggest responsibility is to make sure we don’t go over-budget and that funds aren’t being abused,” SA accountant Shyree Sanan said. “I sit in on finance committee meetings. If I see an organization is spending money in ways they shouldn’t, I report it to the treasurer and let him dealing with it in a manner he sees fitting.”

The addition of an accountant helps things to run smoothly, Harris said.

The SA funds more than 70 organizations, and appoints numerous committees to keep tabs on them.

“We have the Internal Affairs committee that deals with organizations abusing money and other committees that focus on other issues,” Harris said. “We pretty much have everything under control, no issues of funding abuse have come up yet.”