A Tale of Two CEAs
James Kelly
He/Him
News Editor
3/7/25
The Plymouth State Student Senate considered two Conferences, Events, and Activities funding requests on Monday against a dwindling budget and growing austerity. The requests, which came from the Marketing Association of Plymouth State (MAPS) and the Plymouth Meteorological Society, totaled $10,000, with only $7,000 left in the PSSS CEA fund. There may be another $6,900 in CEA funding on the way, PSSS Treasurer Walter Farrar noted, though Speaker Taylor Smith encouraged the Student Senate to consider those funds in the abstract and not as a set amount.
MAPS President Carissa Adams and Treasurer Michael Toronto presented an $8,500 request to attend a 3-day American Marketing Association conference in New Orleans. The total cost of the trip, including flights, hotel rooms, and tickets to the conference itself, is about $16,000, according to Adams. The figure represents costs for 12 attendees with discounted rates for the hotel and conference, and an expectation that attendees pay for food out of pocket. “This is our minimized cost,” Adams said.
So far, MAPS members have fundraised $2,300 for the trip. MAPS has put roughly $3,500 from their allocation towards conference tickets, which leaves them with some $600 in their budget, Adams said. Attendees have more opportunities to fundraise, including a MAPS dodgeball tournament, but they will ultimately pay out of pocket whatever PSSS doesn’t cover. “Our last resort is to have people pay out of pocket,” Adams said.
University System Student Trustee Ethan Dupuis advocated for PSSS to contribute $3,456, which would exactly cover the conference entrance fee. “MAPS has a relatively high cultural impact for the University with all the events that they have,” Dupuis said. “Student Senate – and also Plymouth State – has vested interest in clubs who can achieve [and] go on to win competitions.” MAPS also attended the conference last year, where they were finalists in the marketing strategy and sales role play competition.
PSSS received the CEA request on short notice, however, so Farrar, with the advice of Smith, declined to make an official Treasurer’s recommendation. Class of 2025 President Olivia Griffin made a motion to approve $3,456 in funding for MAPS, which failed with only Dupuis in support. Student Body President Liam Leavitt motioned to postpone the vote until March 10th, when Farrar could offer an official recommendation. The motion passed with only Dupuis in opposition.
The second CEA request of the day came from the Plymouth State chapter of the American Meteorological Society, who plan to attend the 3-day Northeastern Storm Conference in Albany, N.Y..
Plymouth AMS President Alaina Adderly presented the $1,500 request with Vice President Chloe Galyean and Secretary Jacob Garside. With 20 attendees, the total cost to attend the conference is $6,890. The Plymouth AMS has chipped away at the cost with club dues, apparel sales, and fundraising events, including a meteorology trivia night at Biederman’s, Garside said. The club put nearly all of its roughly $2,200 allocation towards the conference.
Without any CEA money from PSSS, the out-of-pocket cost for attendees would be $164 per person, according to Adderly. With the $1,500 CEA funding, that would drop to $89 per person: roughly half. That would still be a historically high cost, Garside noted; last year the cost per person was $10.
Plymouth AMS is “another club that would look really favorable for Plymouth State,” Dupuis said. The conference is “achievement-based and, academically, reflects highly on PSU.” Dupuis recommended approving $1,000 for the conference. “I think we should try to help them the best we can,” he said.
The Plymouth AMS request came at the same time as MAPS’s, but Farrar officially recommended $1,250 for the AMS. “I want to reward this club as much as possible for their effort,” he said. Leavitt motioned to approve $1,250 in CEA funding. The motion passed unanimously.