With an air of compromise, the undergraduate student government
unanimously approved to allocate the majority of money obtained
through a fee referendum to established student groups.
The Tuesday night motion that was approved with a 11-0-0 vote
called for a distribution of the influx of the newly-injected money
among existing and new student organizations. An amount of $144,420
was added to the Undergraduate Students Association Council budget
with the passage of the fee referendum last October.
After 10 percent of the funds were placed in the council
contingency fund for supplemental use in accordance with USAC
bylaws, $129,798 remained for allocation.
Councilmembers voted to double the base budget of $98,978 for
distribution among student groups that previously received USAC
funding as well as the five USAC offices earmarked for supplemental
funding, based on the same percentages that were figured during the
summer of 2002. The remaining $31,208 will be divvied up between
new organizations previously unfunded by the council.
While new groups would be required to follow a similar
application process as existing groups did, older groups and the
respective USAC commissions would be mandated to issue a report on
their past and projected use of funds.
This process would ensure that the previously funded clubs are
still active and running, said Budget Review Director Justin
Levi.
Any remaining money from both pools would then be added to the
contingency fund.
Levi, who originally proposed for a dispersal of the total pool
of funds to the same council-recognized organizations that received
a base budget, said he was satisfied with the final decision the
council made.
“It was completely worth it to sacrifice my ideal solution
to have USAC working together … and come up with (a process) that
is (both) effective and maintains legitimacy,” he said.
“It is the best way to expedite the (allocation)
process,” said President David Dahle. “It is fair to
old groups and new groups.”
Levi projected that a deadline for new applications and
supplemental budget reports would take place during third week.
Following approval by both the Budget Review Committee and the
council, the funds should be appropriated by sixth or seventh week,
he said.
Faced with numerous proposals made by each member of the BRC,
councilmembers motioned and approved a resolution with little
debate.
The council’s efficiency stemmed from the time constraint
placed on them due to the needs of student groups, Dahle said.
“We didn’t sacrifice any quality either,” he
added.
The influx of funding should come as a great relief to many of
the large student organizations that experienced substantial budget
cuts at the beginning of the year. Cuts were made across the board
when USAC’s budget was slashed by $30,000 due to increased
overhead costs.
Following the online vote last quarter, undergraduate students
consented to pay an additional $9.25 each quarter to their student
government ““ increasing the total fee to $33.34.