The Finance Board will run a pilot program next semester in which all events it funds will be free of charge to Brandeis undergraduates, according to Student Union Treasurer Choon Woo Ha '08. Several changes will also be instituted to the guidelines and rules governing the allocation of club funding, he said.Clubs will not be allowed to require Brandeis undergrads to pay any extra fees for entrance or for other items and services funded by the F-Board, Ha announced in a campuswide e-mail Sunday night.

Under the F-Board's new allocation rules, clubs can request full funding for lodging and transportation costs except for car travel, among other changes, to its policy.

The F-Board says the new process for allocating funds will be more club-friendly.

"We opened [the funding] scope up a little more and made it more lenient," Ha said in an interview Monday. Under the old plan, clubs could request up to $20 per room per person per night in funding for lodging, he said.

Ha emphasized, however, that "clubs should not feel that [just] because it's opened up, that they will always get full funding."

The amount of money allocated will still depend on the amount available to the F-Board and on whether the Board deems the funds necessary for the club, he explained.

Two semesters ago, the F-Board did not fund transportation and lodging costs at all, Ha said.

"We saw that there was more demand for this kind of [thing], so we decided to fund everything," he said. "We realized that many, many clubs really need this kind of funding for their clubs to function smoothly."

Ha added that the F-Board will also be more lenient toward the funding of decorations, publicity and advertising when it is evident that they are necessary for a club's activities and purpose.

According to Ha, the free admission policy grew out of concerns over the amount of money undergraduates pay for events. Every semester, 1 percent of the tuition fee for Brandeis undergraduates goes toward the Student Activities Fee. The F-Board is responsible for allocating that money to chartered and secured clubs.

Ha said the ability of clubs to sell tickets is an incentive for club leaders to organize events in order to get money beyond the F-Board funds.

Ha said the F-Board decided on the test run for next semester to get an idea of the policy's effects. He said the F-Board and clubs could discuss a cap on ticket prices, "but there really is no point in talking about it because this kind of [thing] you can only know once you've experienced both ends of the spectrum." Next semester, he said, "we're going to experience the completely opposite end of the spectrum, which is no tickets at all."

The Union will solicit feedback on the new policy from students and clubs through forums, online surveys and meetings to determine further action, Ha said.

Scott Frost '09, a coordinator for the Liquid Latex Club, said he disagreed with the F-Board for making this decision without speaking to club leaders. "I feel like a guinea pig," he said. "[It will make] expensive events on campus difficult to have."

Anna Umanskaya '10, president of the Russian culture club, said she agreed with the decision. "We are already paying event fees, so I don't believe we should be paying twice."

Anya Bergman contributed reporting.