While most student groups on campus are dealing with budget
cuts, the On Campus Housing Council does not need to worry about
cutting corners.
The council’s funding comes straight from the students,
not the state, and they’re almost sure to finish the year
with money left over.
With a budget of nearly $54,500 at their disposal, OCHC attempts
to provide quality educational and recreational programs for the
students residing on the Hill. Every year their budget is composed
of money derived from resident fees and the surplus from the last
year’s budget.
This year $27,300 was collected from students and $27,200 was
left over from the previous academic year. Despite this large
surplus, OCHC continues to ask for financial support from different
groups in order to avoid exceeding their planned budget.
In order to place a realistic cap on the amount that can be
spent on any single program, OCHC uses previous years spending as a
guideline for their projections.
Every on-campus resident pays $4.50 to OCHC each year. This
money is a portion of the $24 Student Activity Fee paid by the
residents of on-campus housing. Another portion of this fee goes to
individual residence hall or building.
Throughout the year, the buildings are asked to contribute a
certain amount of money to go toward activities like movie night,
which are put on for all residents. The share to be paid by each
building is determined by the number of students housed there.
One of the recent events funded by OCHC was Casino
Night on Feb. 22, which actually made a profit of $61. The
All-Hill Formal, also put on by OCHC, will take place on May 16,
and is budgeted at $9,200.
“It is nice to know that our money is used to provide
services for us. I knew about some of the events, but never knew
who was behind it,” said first-year Reiber Hall resident
Lindsay Powers.
Movie nights are also run by OCHC. The movies run on Thursdays
and Saturdays and are free for residents with a Bruin ID. So far
this year OCHC has spent approximately $7,000 on the film program.
These expenses include a fee paid for video licensing.
Another major event that took place during the fall quarter was
All-Hill Halloween. One day during the week of Halloween, students
from local elementary schools visited the Hill to trick-or-treat in
the decorated residence halls.
OCHC funded the invitations and advertising for the event and
also provided transportation for the participants.
OCHC also sponsors outside programs that benefit the on-campus
resident community. Resident assistants, student health advocates
or any registered student group can qualify to receive OCHC
money.
In order to take advantage of the available funds, the student
group needs to present their case to OCHC by explaining the reasons
behind their program and how it will benefit the residents. They
also need to provide a copy of their itemized budget and list any
other financial source.
OCHC members will then vote on whether or not to allocate funds
to the group.