What is C.G.A.?
We’ve all heard about the Community Government Association, but what exactly does the C.G.A. do? These students are the people responsible for the funds that make it possible for your favorite student organization to function. Take a closer look at the students representing you.
Untitled from Claire Hollenbeck on Vimeo.
by Claire Hollenbeck
Natalie Husick
Caroline Kiernan
Bloomsburg University offers hundreds of co-curricular activities on and off campus, most of which cannot fund themselves.
The Community Government Association (C.G.A.) is the group responsible for providing Bloomsburg University clubs with enough money to function. Any club on campus that do not discriminate by G.P.A., sex, or ethnicity, may be funded by the C.G.A.
“[The C.G.A. budget] comes from student activities fees. We distribute [the money] to varsity sports, club sports, and then student organizations. And then we have various stipulations as to what they can be funded for,” says C.G.A. treasurer Jeff Bajorek.
If a club wants or needs money, representatives of that club fill out budget packets, letting the C.G.A. know exactly what the funds will be used for. There is also a reserve, comparable to a savings account, which provides student organizations with a percentage of the cost if they were to attend conferences or travel to see speakers. “It’s student money that we redistribute to students,” he says.
The C.G.A.’s sole purpose isn’t to fund clubs and activities. It also regulates and compares its standards to other schools in the area.
“Our focus is trying to unify all the PASSHE and trying to understand that the students that go to ESU and the students at Shippensburg are on the same playing-field as Bloomsburg,” says Bajorek, “we act as the liaison between the student body here at Bloomsburg as well as the administration and the faculty.”
The C.G.A. is like an objective third party that hears both sides of any story. “We’re like the middle ground, we try to make peace with everything, and try to alleviate any problems,” he says.
CGA Slideshow from Natalie Husick on Vimeo.
