Third Center Policy Note 3/4/07
Peter Fritz, Treasurer, Carleton Student Association
The purpose of this note is to clarify and reiterate points related to how the Third Center Fund is allocated. Practical guidance provides information on the criteria used in allocation and approval of Third Center requests and addresses common situations.

Purpose of the Third Center Fund

Current statements from the Third Center application form on the purpose of the Third Center Fund:

The spirit of the Third Center Fund is to create informal (i.e. unrelated to academics) communication between people who more or less do not already know each other, and to allow Carleton community members to step out of their formal roles and enjoy and learn from each other.

The Third Center Fund is not to be used to promote an activity related to a specific class (i.e. anything on a syllabus).

No CSA chartered organization will receive grants from the Third Center Fund.

Third Center funding is intended to bring together people in an informal manner from different areas of the college who do not formally interact on a regular basis. The above statements are very clear in distancing Third Center funded activities from the normal functions and activities of College bodies, be they CSA chartered organizations, College offices, or particular classes. At the same time, Third Center events are not meant to be a completely random assortment of individuals; interaction outside of the usual pattern is their goal.

Practical Guidance:

• “Informal” in the above section does not mandate one particular form of social gathering, i.e. dinners requiring semi-formal or formal attire may be funded by Third Center. Rather, “informal” indicates that the interactions are occurring outside of the usual business of the College.
• Generally speaking, the Third Center Fund is not to be used for events solely bringing together student workers and their staff supervisors.
• While Third Center events structured entirely around a class that actually meets during the current term are not funded; however, events based upon a theme derived from a course that include at least one faculty/staff/ alumni not involved in the course and a significant portion of students not involved in the course are eligible for funding.

How Much? Where?

The novel dining experience that comes from Third Center funded events is primarily created by the gathering of individuals, rather than by the choice of dining establishment itself. Dining is expensive, the Third Center fund limited.

Practical Guidance:

• The $12 per person upper limit is a “hard” limit. It is very possible to construct a meal, either in a restaurant, catered, or personally prepared for that much or less.
• In that vein, dining in the Twin Cities is significantly more expensive than dining in Northfield. While it is not forbidden to conduct a Third Center event outside of Northfield, the Fund is not responsible for covering the possible additional costs.