Time is dwindling to take advantage of the opportunity for any student club, organization or department to submit a request for a University Lecture Series-sponsored speaker for the 2007-2008 academic year.

ULS will be accepting proposals until 5 p.m. on Dec. 5. Proposal forms can be found on the Web at http://ctr.usf.edu/uls. All forms must be turned in to Phyllis P. Marshall Center room 259. According to Program Coordinator for the Office of Student Programs Michael Dolinger, individuals may still offer suggestions or can get involved by becoming a ULS member, but the proposals are designated for groups that want to co-sponsor an event with ULS.

Co-sponsorship involves helping with promotion and organizing the event, Dolinger said.

Those filling out forms must not only propose a speaker, but also identify the theme of the speaker’s lecture, date, venue, agent and expected audience size. Additionally, forms must include the cost associated with bringing the desired speaker to campus.

The cost of most lectures, according to the form, includes travel, hotel accommodations, marketing, security, food and other costs of reserving a venue space and any additional equipment.

After the proposal is submitted, ULS will request that a representative or up to three members attend a meeting to justify the proposal.

“The ULS committee looks it over, then brings in the group to justify the proposals,” Dolinger said. “In March, when (Student Government) allocates their funding, that’s when we decide who gets the proposals.”

Dolinger said one of the most crucial questions asked during the process is why students would come to see the lecture and how it would benefit the USF community.

“These are the two biggest advice pieces,” Dolinger said. According to Dolinger, SG allocated about $250,000 in students’ Activity and Service fees for this year’s crop of speakers.

A&S fees (from this year) come from an $8.08 per-credit-hour fee.

So far this year, ULS has brought to USF controversial political pundit Ann Coulter for $35,275 and Boondocks cartoonist Aaron McGruder for $28,600, among others.

In the spring, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, poet Edwidge Danticat and actor Anthony Rapp are scheduled to visit USF.