Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) announced on Wednesday that the Instructurally Related Activities (IRA) spring supplemental call will no longer open due to limited funds. 

While this academic school year will only have one IRA call, ASI President Camalah Saleh said they’re planning on returning to two per year once resources allow.

“We are really trying to develop long-term developments so that it can meet campus needs, because IRA is here to support students and student events,” Saleh said.

This fall, 109 out of 290 campus organizations and clubs were devastated by the news that their IRA funding requests were denied. In 2024, 209 out of 233 applicants received funding — a sharp decline in just one year.

Members of the affected organizations often rely on these funds to attend conferences and complete various projects. Now, these trips and goals might be out of reach.

A Campus Communications email that was sent out this morning reiterated ASI’s announcement.

“While IRA benefited from a temporary surplus during the COVID years, that cushion is no longer available,” the email read. “The budget now reflects its normal pre-COVID level, but requests for funding have grown significantly and far outpace the resources available.”

Saleh and ASI Operations Manager Frederick Lisitsa gave the IRA update presentation at the senate meeting. 

Lisitsa said that the funding pool for IRA has gone down, but requests from campus clubs and organizations are up by four or five times. 

The Academic Resource Office (ARO) provided ASI with a data chart depicting this stark gap:

Lisitsa said that the IRA issue boils down to a misallocation of the COVID-19 surplus.

“Last year, the IRA committee was not aware that they would be running out of the surplus, which is a mistake on the committee,” Lisitsa said. 

He explained that if the committee knew that they would be running so thin on funding this year, then it could be assumed that they would have tried to extend the money from last year.

In the presentation, several means for improvement were listed as follows:

• Restructuring the process so both applications and awards are managed directly by the ARO for greater consistency.
• Creating a defined rubric and updated policies to ensure allocations are equitable and transparent.
• Exploring additional funding opportunities.
• Expanded budget lines toward ASI Club Grants.
• Offering joint fundraising workshops to help clubs and organizations strengthen resources beyond IRA.

Before the IRA segment, the senate heard presentations from the Career Development Center, discussed potential ASI bylaws and election code revisions and passed a resolution to support immigrant students.

Senator for Health and Human Services Alya Hassan and Senator for the College of Social Sciences Evelyn Ornelas presented the resolution. 

It follows the Sept. 20 signing of SB 98 that requires California State Universities to notify students when Immigration and Customs Enforcement is on campus.

The resolution highlights ASI’s solidarity with immigrant students, urges the university to support them with resources and stresses the idea that Fresno State should be a home to all.

Senator of the Craig School of Business Kirsten Martinez emphasized the importance of the resolution.

“Students come here for their education and they should at no point feel that their education is at risk,” Martinez said.

The senate voted unanimously to pass the resolution.

Mary Willis, the executive director of the Career Development Center, addressed the senate with an overview of what the center does — preparing students for life after graduation.

Willis’ main objective is to incorporate career training into everyday life on campus.

“What’s so incredibly important is that we embed career awareness and career readiness into the curriculum,” Willis said. 

She said that she wants more students to utilize the center’s services.

Parker Hill, the ASI legal committee chair, invited the senate to provide its opinions on what changes should be made to the bylaws. 

Lisitsa also proposed that the senate move its voting on officially passing the election code from mid-October to November. The motion passed unanimously.

ASI meets every other Wednesday in the Resnick Student Union Room 207 from 4-6 p.m. Meetings are open to the public and also livestreamed.