USAC Accountability and Transparency in CURE
Whether or not the failure of the Contingency USA/BOD Referendum Enactment, or CURE, represents a vote of no confidence in the Undergraduate Students Association Council, the newly elected council members must step forward to restore financial responsibility.
With its emphasis on a student-funded bailout rather than a student government-led solution, the CURE referendum was the result of the council’s inability to demonstrate fiscal responsibility and forward-thinking.
Now, a more creative solution is necessary. USAC needs a venue to make funding allocations accessible to students in a way that invites speculation and feedback.
As it stands now, students know merely that CURE funds would have gone to student programming and contingency funds ““ nothing more specific was revealed. Skeptical voters might have been swayed by CURE had fee allocations been more clearly outlined.
Technically, information about allocations to student groups is available on the Student Government Accounting website, where students can look at a PDF of the Student Government Accounting budget report. However, this report is difficult to comprehend.
USAC should adopt proactive measures to prevent overspending ““ cuts in unnecessary spending may help alleviate the budget crunch. Money for Bruin Bash and officer retreats, for instance, could be reduced.
“The first step is tightening our belt and seeing where we can be more efficient,” said Andrea “Andi” Hester, next year’s internal vice president.
CURE failed because of the council’s inability to prove that it is responsible enough to put student money to good use, considering this year’s budget shortfall.
Although $3 a quarter is less than the cost of a grande cup of coffee at Kerckhoff, when multiplied by approximately 27,000 students it represents an estimated $81,000 a quarter and $243,000 a year. This amount is only about $5,000 less than the total amount of last year’s surplus fund.
As small as the proposed fee was, it was still an increase, and USAC is responsible for implementing other sources such as corporate sponsorship that do not tap into fees, said Taylor Mason, a third-year international development studies student and next year’s Cultural Affairs commissioner.
Student fears regarding CURE rested on USAC’s lack of accountability and the council’s passivity regarding the allocation and tracking of money.
Since the referendum proved inadequate, it becomes critical for the council to exercise frugality.
By rejecting the referendum, students have shown they will not constrict themselves to the role of taxpayers called upon in times of USAC’s financial needs. With the uncertainty of surplus funds, it could be that USAC will not have enough money to allocate to student groups, said David Bocarsly, a third-year economics student and next year’s USAC president.
Presupposing that a portion of the money from the referendum would have reached student groups, cutting unnecessary spending implies that student groups might lose financial stability. While this is detrimental for them, it is a step that could recreate confidence in USAC’s fiscal responsibility.
For any organization to be held accountable, its constituency must know what is going on and the initiative to hold USAC accountable must come from the student body, said Taylor Bazley, a second-year political science student and candidate for Financial Supports commissioner.
A student council that lacks a large diversity of slates to compete and to hold each other accountable implies that student demand for accountability is necessary.
Corporate Sponsorships
UCLA students are the holy grail of target markets as far as corporations are concerned.
We are young and impressionable, and if a corporation is going to advertise to anyone, it would be us.
But accepting corporate sponsorships comes with a large price: a dilution of school spirit.
The absence of corporate sponsorships as an option for additional revenues is not entirely sensible, but the other extreme ““ sole reliance on outside sources of revenue ““ comes with risks.
These risks include undermining other creative options for revenue expansion and fostering an unhealthy reliance on a single funding source. To prevent corporate sponsorships from being the easy solution for a dire financial situation, alternatives should be introduced and examined.
Corporate sponsorships should be pursued with the acknowledgement that other revenue opportunities on campus exist, Bazley said.
Indeed, USAC can and should get creative with its funding sources. Apparel sales, for example, are an offbeat way to drum up much-needed cash.
For instance, apparel sales for Homecoming raised more than $8,000, allowing the Homecoming Committee to return upward of $4,000 in unspent funding to the council.
Such tactics could bring in much-needed money and foster school spirit, whereas a reliance on corporate sponsorships might detach students from the central theme of belonging to UCLA rather than to commercial logos.
Corporate sponsorships represent a sale of access to students’ mindshare, a financial transaction that USAC should enter into with a good deal of discretion. College students, many of whom are just moving into new apartments and need to stock up on food and cleaning products, are a very lucrative market. Additionally, attending one of the world’s best universities raises the odds that we will grow up to be wealthy consumers with upper middle-class appetites.
“This is a very desirable audience for companies,” said Roy Champawat, director of the UCLA Student Union. “If there’s a group to bet on, (UCLA students) are that group.”
Given the exorbitant value of UCLA students as consumers, USAC should make sure the money earned by the council outweighs the cost to campus pride and unity.
But corporate sponsorships remain a potentially clever strategic endeavor for USAC, particularly in the short term when financial difficulties and surplus fund issues have clouded its budget.
A reliance on corporate sponsorships should not, however, undermine the key purpose of UCLA-related events: it is not the materialistic pursuit of profit but an effort to motivate students toward a sense of unity and campus pride.
“We have to make sure (corporate support) doesn’t overpower the message of the event,” said Kenn Heller, assistant dean of students.
Diluting school spirit could best be prevented by allowing corporate sponsorships to exist only as an additional source of funding rather than the principal one.
USAC’s unfortunate reliance on surplus funds is a telling example of what can happen when the council becomes dependent on a single source of funding. After several years of steadily increasing surpluses, this year’s council spent money in fall quarter as if it was set to receive half a million dollars in surplus funds. When the total came in just under $250,000, USAC was forced to resort to European-style austerity measures.
Relying on any one stream of revenue can be dangerous, whether that revenue comes from surplus funds or advertisers. This concern is all the more prevalent when dealing with the fickle marketing and advertising departments of large corporations.
Moreover, considering the risk of deadening school spirit, the council should exercise greater caution when dealing with outside sources of revenue.
It is important to maintain an appropriate balance between what belongs to students and what will bring in money, Bocarsly said.
Other alternatives include raising money through private philanthropy and a culture of giving back, Bocarsly added.
The stated goal of Bruins United is to foster togetherness on campus, as illustrated by 2011-2012 USAC President Emily Resnick’s push for unifying events such as Homecoming and farmers markets. Thus, it is imperative that the newly elected Bruins United council not lose sight of unity as a goal for big-ticket campus events.
We see advertisements everywhere ““ on bus benches, on urinal cakes, on the backs of the little slips of paper in fortune cookies. USAC should think twice before associating UCLA’s name too closely with a corporate tag.
Email Arom at darom@media.ucla.edu and Torossian at atorossian@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to opinion@media.ucla.edu or tweet us @DBOpinion.