The Student Government Association revamped the organizational aid application process this year to make divvying up money to campus organizations easier.

SGA made the application shorter, more efficient and available on the SGA Web site, said Justin Thurman, SGA administrative vice president.

In previous years, applicants were required to submit a lengthy application to get the money, he said.

This year, SGA’s organizational aid board plans to give 36 percent, or $40,000, of the organization’s budget to different clubs and organizations at Western, Thurman said.

Organizations can apply as many times as they want until they reach the $500 limit, he said. Previously, organizations could apply once a year at the beginning of the fall semester.

In the old system, some organizations received more than the $500 limit, Thurman said. That was one of the reasons SGA revised the process.

The Residence Hall Association is an exception to the $500 rule, he said. RHA received $3,000 last year but was limited to $2,000 through legislation passed in SGA last year.

“They just do so much,” Thurman said. “We didn’t feel it was necessary to just give them $500.”

Nashville graduate student Becky Wharton, president of the Schleuderball Club, applied for $300 in org aid this year for the club.

“I thought it was a simple and easy process, and the meeting didn’t take very long,” Wharton said.

Rockfield graduate student Mannie Webb applied for org aid last year for the Schleuderball Club and the German Club.

The old process was more involved and required more paperwork, Webb said.

Thurman said an organization that wants to receive money must have an active status with the Office of Student Activities and Organizations.

An organization submits an application to the org aid board, then schedules a meeting to be interviewed by board members, Thurman said.

At the meeting, board members ask questions about how the money will be used and decide whether they’ll recommend that the organization receive the full amount requested, he said.

Org aid interviews are between 7 and 9 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays one week and Tuesdays and Thursdays the next week, Thurman said.

If the board decides to give a group money, Thurman said he writes legislation for the other senators to vote on.

Senators not on the org aid board can write legislation to recommend more than the amount granted by the board, he said.

Thurman said he plans to spend all of the org aid money, despite the limitations on how much each organization can get.

Last year, SGA had leftover money, which went to putting an automatic door in Downing University Center and other senate projects, he said.