The Department of Student Life has begun to take steps to address what it sees as deficiencies with how clubs manage their funds and the system the Student Union uses to distribute club funding.According to Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer, the current system is inadequate because there is "too much money and too much need today for the system to be efficient."

The department began its initiative this summer by itemizing Student Events' portion of the Student Activities Fee-one percent of tuition, or about $1 million a year-on this semester's tuition bills.

What appeared instead of an all-inclusive $157.50 activities fee was a separate $122.50 activities fee and a $35 Student Events fee.

This "is a small step in having Student Events become more identified, accountable and visible on campus," Sawyer said of the billing change.

Though the Student Union is responsible for distributing club funds, the administration has historically had a strong voice in changes made to the Union's fund distribution policies.

Currently, some clubs receive a constant percentage of the $1 million fund.

These clubs are divided into two groups: secured major media organizations, including the Justice, and secured organizations. Clubs that are not a member of these groups must appear before the Finance Board semesterly to receive funding.

Student Events, a member of the Secured Organizations group of clubs, receives about $225,000 a year-more than any other club on campus.

According to Sawyer, Student Events plays a major role in providing a baseline of energy and variety to campus. Since the organization was financially hidden in the overall fee, he said that students had difficulty realizing its potential to organize events.

Sawyer said that he hopes the change will increase student involvement and bring Student Events "front and center."

Helen Pekker '06, director of Student Events, said that the administrative action made the organization more aware of its budget but did not impact how the programming group decides to spend its money.

"The administration is in no way telling us how to spend our money," Pekker said, adding that she had not heard of the move to isolate her organization's funding for billing purposes until after she saw her own bill.

Pekker said the move will help students see where their money goes and may in turn inspire them to become more involved.

"We're happy with this decision because it really allows students to know where their money is going ... So we hope they would be more involved in our surveys, volunteer, just shout out ideas at us," she said.

Sawyer said that not only would his move provide more prominence to Student Events' contribution to the "energy and variety of our social life," but also harks back to the pre-1992 Student Events fee, which was separate from the Student Activities Fee.

According to Student Union President Jenny Feinberg '07, the isolation of the two funds would not disrupt students' control over club finances and it would encourage the enhancement of the University's student organizations.

"The administration is going to be working with them, as far as I know, to create a budget and fiscal responsibility and to ensure they are doing as much as possible to make Brandeis social life fantastic," Feinberg said.

Though the administration advocates for such changes, Pekker has not heard of any proposed strategies from the administration on how to improve Student Events' budget.