While the North Side Association has typically not been an active group in the past, the organization has increased its presence on campus this year.

The North Side Association (NSA) is the primary programming body for students living on the North Side and off campus. Like the Congress of the South 40 (CS40), the NSA is funded by the Office of Residential Life. However, it has traditionally been less active because its constituency is more acclimated to college life, more spread out and more engaged in other activities on campus.

It also has a significantly smaller budget than CS40.

The budget for the NSA was $10,000 during the last two years but was reduced to $8,000 this year. The money is allocated from the Village Residential College and BLOC Housing budget. According to junior Brandon Lucius, speaker of the NSA, the decrease occurred because the NSA had never used up its entire budget, but it has become more of an issue this year.

Most of CS40’s $445,000 budget comes from an allocation of 2 percent of the housing charge for students living on the 40. ResLife does not pay this money.

The NSA has an almost entirely new board this year that hopes to make the NSA a stronger presence in spite of the budget decease. Of the 14 members, 13 are juniors.

“There is a lot more excitement than there had been in past years,” Lucius said. “We are making a bigger effort to do more and be a larger presence on the North Side, so the money has become a bit more necessary.”

The NSA is keeping a list of activities they would like to plan but do not have the money for, in order to show ResLife the need for funds.

The NSA is trying to make do with what money they have. Some of the activities this year include a First Friday barbecue coordinated with Team 31 and a pancake party and Junior Jamboree that were coordinated with the Junior Class Council. Events planned for the rest of the semester include a car maintenance how-to workshop and a Stack the Caps hat donation for children with cancer. Longer-term goals include partnering with Bon Appétit for cooking classes and events through the career center.

According to Stephanie Milner, the on-campus apartments residential college director and NSA advisor, ResLife has noticed the NSA’s increased activity on campus.

“The department has been exceptionally supportive of the increased presence of NSA this year,” Milner wrote in an e-mail. “The execs were really excited to see Dean Carroll, among other ResLife administrators, at NSA’s First Friday event in September.”

According to Milner, there have been discussions in ResLife about increasing the NSA’s budget in the future.

“Specific plans have not been put into place as of today, but the NSA and their budget source continues to garner conversation within the department,” Milner wrote. “We are confident that the department will seek to find ways to help NSA’s budget match the needs of the organization and the students it serves, as those needs continue to change and grow.”

According to Lucius, the feedback about the events has mostly been positive. The NSA is currently looking into a North Side-wide survey to get larger feedback.

Milner has also heard similar positive feedback.

“Folks from the department have come out for a number of NSA-sponsored events already this semester, and I expect that trend will continue throughout the year,” Milner wrote.

While the smaller events have been successful, some North Side residents are unsure if the NSA will have similar success with larger-scale events.

“I feel like we are all too busy, but it would be nice to have more events on the North Side,” junior Mohit Iyyer said.

Junior Ben Winston echoed Iyyer’s sentiments. While he has enjoyed the events he has gone to, such as the pancake party, he is unsure about how popular larger events would be.

“I do not know if upperclassmen would go to big events,” Winston said. “Not as many people go to events on the North Side as on the 40.”

In future years, Lucius hopes that the NSA can have more ambitious activities in the city, such as shows at the Fox Theatre, and bring in speakers and larger community events, such as those on the South 40.

“We want to show that bigger and better things can be done on the North Side if the money is there,” Lucius said. “We want to bring a sense of community to the North Side.”