Although a quorum did not exist at a Feb. 2 Student Activity Fee Committee meeting, President Robert Zeigler, who approves decisions made by the committee, told The Ranger Tuesday he will approve awards from the meeting because its members "acted in good faith."

The committee will meet Thursday to review a request for funding from the Society of Physics Students and an appeal from Mexican-American Engineers and Scientists.

The meeting will take place 4 p.m. Thursday in the health promotions office in Room 150 of Loftin Student Center.

This will be the first meeting since a quorum procedure was clarified.

Eddie Cruz, ethics and compliance officer for the district, ruled on Monday a quorum consists of a minimum of five members with a student majority.

The new policy reads, "a quorum to transact business must consist of (1) a total of at least 5 members (2) with a plurality of those members present being voting student members and (3) at least one faculty member being present."

At a Feb. 2 meeting, student life Director Jorge Posadas, the nonvoting chair of the committee, ruled that two student members and a student alternate constituted a quorum for the committee of nine voting members.

The committee is composed of five student members, appointed by the Student Government Association, and four faculty or staff members, appointed by Zeigler.

Two faculty members were absent and two faculty positions are vacant.

Janet Lozano, executive assistant to the president, told The Ranger today Zeigler has filled the faculty vacancies, and Dr. Robert Vela, vice president of student affairs, will make an announcement Thursday before the meeting.

Three student members also were not present at the Feb. 2 meeting.

Proposals the committee will consider Thursday include a request from the Society of Physics Students for $1,261.20 for a March 22-24 meeting with the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers and Zone 13 of the Society of Physics Students at Angelo State University in San Angelo.

The committee will review an appeal from Mexican-American Engineers and Scientists regarding a $1590.50 request previously reviewed at the Feb. 2 meeting to attend a Feb. 15-18 MAES National Leadership Conference in Houston.

Funding was denied because of a discrepancy in the registration fee listed in the organization's itemized budget.

The committee decides expenditures of the student activity fee of $1 per credit hour. The 2011-12 student activity fee budget allocates $300,000 for annual expenditures, of which $50,000 is allotted to clubs and organizations. Of the $50,000, $40,000 is allotted for student travel.

The budget is available at http://alamo.edu/sac/student-life/leadership-activities.

Meetings are open to the public.

For more information, call the office of student life at 210-486-0125.