The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.
The undergraduate student government will have to work with a smaller amount of funds left over from previous councils than it has in recent years after the 2012-2013 council spent much of its surplus fund.
“The biggest obstacle this year the council will face is, ‘Do we put council initiatives before we put student programming?’” said Cynthia Jasso, the Undergraduate Students Association Council Finance Committee chair.
This academic year’s surplus – money carried over from one year’s council to the next and calculated every November – is about $232,000.
But councilmembers have already spent $80,000 of the surplus to fund Bruin Bash and the Student of Color Conference, leaving them with about $152,000 to potentially fund USAC office programs and student group operational and programming funds.
Surplus funds decreased this year partially because of an endowment last year’s council created with $100,000 of the surplus. USAC started the endowment with the UCLA Foundation and receives 5 percent of the endowment back for USAC programming funds each year.
USAC surplus fluctuates year by year. Last year’s surplus was about $384,000, which helped fund the endowment.
At Tuesday’s USAC meeting, Jasso proposed a timeline for councilmembers to submit their requests for how they want to spend surplus funds. She said she wanted the council to decide how to spend surplus funds by the end of fall quarter.
Jasso said postponing decisions about surplus fund allocations would delay the opening of some USAC funds that support student group operations.
Some councilmembers said they need more time than the few weeks left of this quarter to organize their funding proposals.
The council decided at the meeting to set the deadline for proposals as the first week of winter quarter.
The capital contingency fund will not open for student organizations until surplus spending is set by councilmembers, Jasso said.
Student groups can apply for funds from the USA Contingency Fund for programming needs. Both student organizations and councilmembers with offices in Kerckhoff Hall can apply to the capital contingency fund to buy items like furniture and computers for their offices.
“USAC gets all this leisure and time to make this decision and it affects the student groups,” Jasso said. “My goal is to open the fund week one of winter quarter.”
Roy Champawat, director of the UCLA Student Union, said he thinks the smaller surplus this year suggests that the previous year’s council was able to utilize the funding available to it.
“There’s always remainders, there’s always surplus and just because there’s surplus doesn’t mean it’s bad, but a large surplus isn’t good,” Champawat said. “It means that year hadn’t been able to fully utilize its funds.”
When councilmembers discussed their surplus proposal presentations at the meeting, Champawat said he thinks they should remember they do not have much money to spend this year. He said he thinks that the “era” of large surpluses has ended.
“That ship’s sailed, we’re not really there so much anymore,” he said. “We need to tamp down our expectations.”
Some councilmembers said they think having a smaller surplus is a positive sign, because it means more money funded student group and councilmember initiatives.
“Ideally, surplus shouldn’t exist because it means the funds aren’t being used,” said USAC President John Joanino.
Typically, councilmembers use about $50,000 to fund the Jazz Reggae Festival, a concert put on by the Cultural Affairs Commission every spring quarter, Jasso said. Councilmembers may also direct $10,000 of surplus funds to pay for textbook scholarships from the USAC Financial Supports Commission during spring quarter.
Several councilmembers said they hope the small surplus amount will prompt student groups to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on surplus funds.
Any councilmember who wants to request part of surplus funding is set to present their proposals at the USAC meeting on Jan. 7.
Correction: The USA Contingency Programming fund is already open.