The undergraduate student government will vote Tuesday on whether to add a referendum to the spring election ballot that would raise quarterly student fees by $3 to increase funding for student group activities.
If students vote to pass the measure, the funds would be allocated to the Undergraduate Students Association Council Contingency Programming Fund, the USA/Associated Students UCLA Board of Directors Programming Fund and the Community Activities Committee funds. The $3 fee would increase with inflation each year starting in fall 2016.
The funds are the most utilized funding resources for student group events, said Cindy Wang, chair of the USAC Finance Committee.
The referendum, proposed by USAC members, is meant to offset rising demand for funding from an increasing number of students at the university. It also comes in response to regular drops in USAC surplus levels, which may go toward the contingency and programming funds. Surplus funding is money carried over from one year to the next and redistributed among USAC programs or funds.
“The goal of this is not to necessarily increase funding (of student groups), but just to maintain it, because more are applying every year,” said Community Service Commissioner Cynthia Wong, who proposed the referendum.
The USAC Contingency Programming Fund mostly funds small-scale events requiring under $1,000. The USA/ASUCLA Board of Directors Programming Fund usually funds larger events asking for more than $1,000. The Community Activities Committee funds provide event-planning resources for registered community service projects and activities. USAC oversees the first two funds and is responsible for allocating surplus funding.
Wang said the referendum is meant to stabilize the amount of money available in the three funds at the beginning of each quarter.
“All three funds have a problem of relying heavily on surplus,” Wang said.
If the referendum is passed in the spring election, it will be effective starting in fall.
This year’s USAC officers are completely out of touch and confused!. Students are busy fighting tuition hikes and USAC is busy passing referendum’s to raise fees? but USAC continues to pass referendums opposing the UC Regents plans to raise fees. Sounds like another case of the looney tunes!. I see Roger Rabbit coming around the corner now.