Student Union officials have drafted a proposal requesting $55,000 from the Department of Athletics to fund club sports, the officials said. The requested funding would cover costs for equipment, coaching and transportation, according to the proposal.No date has been set to formally present the proposal to club leaders or the Board of Trustees, said Senator for the Class of 2008 Noah Haber, who chaired the committee of Union officials formed last semester, and is a member of Tron, the men's Ultimate Frisbee club. Student Union Vice President Jacob Kim '06, Union Treasurer Nick Freeman '07 and Massell Quad Senator Jacob Bockelmann '09 co-wrote the proposal with Haber.

Club sports are funded through requests to the Finance Board (F-Board), which allocates less than 40 percent of the Student Activities Fee (SAF) to more than 200 chartered clubs (more than 60 percent is guaranteed to eight secured groups, including the Justice). SAF is a fee charged to all students that funds nearly all student-run clubs on campus. In the midst of a broader campaign to reform the club funding system, the proposal focuses on a group of clubs that generally accounts for nearly half of all F-board funding.

But the F-Board cannot afford to give the campus' 43 chartered club sports teams enough money for safety equipment and personnel, Haber said.

"Getting the money would alleviate a lot of stress on the F-Board, which is what the proposal is going to do," said Bockelmann, who is also the President of the men's rugby club.

Many club sports leaders agree that half of the F-Board's semesterly funding, currently about $160,000, is still insufficient to provide adequate equipment, instruction and facilities.

"A lot of teams don't get full funding for equipment, so they are forced to skimp out and buy equipment which is not of the best quality and they end up replacing the equipment a lot more often and it costs a lot in the long run," Haber said.

Aside from a financial restructuring, the proposal also requests use of the varsity training facilities, the establishment of a joint committee of Union, club and athletic department leaders to meet monthly and set guidelines for a club sport can become a varsity sport.

Bockelmann said the proposal would facilitate communication between club sports and the Department of Athletics.

"We're asking for a lot more than money," he said, highlighting practice space as an important concern.

"Right now Gosman [Sports and Convocation Center] space is unavailable to any club sports from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.," Bockelmann said. "I realize that varsity sports take precedent, but it's not really fair when you have over 20 clubs that need to hold practices within four hours."

Assistant Director of Athletics for Recreation, Club and Intramural Sports Tom Rand said the issue of space can only be solved by building more facilities, a major project not currently on the table.

Rand said he is willing to help, but that the proposal is not realistic.

"The proposal doesn't take into account all of the personnel responsibilities," he said. "They want all of this money, new equipment and access to trainers, but it doesn't say how it will be overseen and organized."

Numerous phone and e-mail messages to Director of Athletics Sheryl Sousa and Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy were not returned.

After discussing issues concerning club sports since late last semester and working with Eddy, Haber said he feels confident about presenting the proposal to club leaders, administrators and the Athletic Department soon. The Board of Trustees will have the final say over any redistribution of resources, Haber said.

Although Haber said some administrators have given him the impression that they are both willing and able to make the necessary resources available, Haber said he does not know what those resources are and where they would come from.

Club sports, along with all chartered clubs, will see somewhat of a reprieve next semester regardless of the proposal's passage if the Student Union's campaign to reform the club funding system results in a successful amendment to the Union constitution, which stipulates SAF distribution and requires approval of two-thirds of voters to pass. The Justice reported last week that current plans to restructure SAF will result in more than a 25 percent increase in total F-Board allocations through cuts to secured groups, making more money available to chartered clubs, including club sports.

"We feel that this proposal is a good reflection of what the problems really are and how to solve them without taking up a ridiculous amount of resources," Haber said. "But if it doesn't go through, I imagine we'll try again, because this has been an issue since I've been at Brandeis and we feel that we've taken action.