The Sacramento State theater department spent a substantial amount of its budget on the musical “Gypsy,” and is asking for additional funding from Instructionally Related Activities.

With about half of the seats filled, the show did not make a profit for the theater department, which is not an unusual trend for most musicals at Sac State.The department generally makes requests for IRA grants each semester to fund its plays and operas.

“Some shows won’t always make money,” said Interim Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Letters Kimo Ah Yun. “It’s not uncommon to not have budget positive musicals every year.”

Each year, IRA puts a bulletin for the entire month of March that calls for budget requests from each department. The forms and criteria to fill out for funding proposals must fit the guidelines on the bulletin posted.

University Records Management Coordinator and Senior Administrative Officer Kem Gravenburg said there are 23 proposals this year.

“We review each proposal and we decide if there’s missing information,” Gravenberg said. “After we review the proposals, we’re ready to set up the IRA presentation programs.”

Associated Students Inc. President Nielsen Gabriel chaired the IRA committee, as most student government programs usually do.

Each department is given 15 minutes to explain what its program is about and answer questions given beforehand. After all of the presentations, the committee in charge of hearing the proposals deliberates and gives a recommended budget based on written proposal and presentation, Gravenberg said.

“This committee helps the university and students by funding programs that meet the criteria for spending student funding,” Gravenberg said. “What the committee tries to do is be good stewards of student money and try to allocate funds to those who offer hands-on, out of the classroom experiences directly related to their field of study.”

Gabriel said once the committee deliberates over the presentations, the recommended amount of money for the IRA grant is sent to Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez.

Every student on campus pays an $8 IRA fee, which goes directly into the grant program each school year. Approximately $482,950 was collected from the fees for the 2013-2014 year.