Associated Students UCLA passed the budget for Undergraduate
Students Association Council for the 2006 fiscal year at their
board of directors meeting Friday.
The approved budget divides $2.86 million between administrative
overhead, fee and program specific expenses, and the student
government and student organizations operational funds.
The rise from last year’s funds, $2.45 million, is
attributed to the additional income from the PULSE referendum,
passed by students in the recent USAC elections. The referendum
gave money to four community service and outreach organizations on
campus.
The base budget is funds allotted to student groups based on
predictable expenses, such as officer stipends, office supplies,
advertising and graphics, retreats and conferences, and meeting
facilities costs.
At the end of each fiscal year, any capital budgeted but not
spent is rolled over into a surplus fund. This amount is typically
at least $100,000 per year.
A variable portion of the surplus is reserved for the
Accumulated Reserve for Unanticipated Future Loss Fund, which is
only to be used in cases of extreme financial emergency, according
to Undergraduate Students Association bylaws.
The remainder of the available monies are allocated to the
Undergraduate Students Association Contingency Fund, which mostly
goes toward student group programming and other items not
applicable for base budget allocations, or to other specialized
programming funds.
In fiscal years 2003 and 2004, surplus funds added $237,000 to
contingency.
There is huge need for programming money for student groups,
said newly installed USAC President Jenny Wood.
Every year, student groups request far more money for valuable
programs than Undergraduate Student Government has to give out,
Wood said.
A total of 126 campus groups have received funding from surplus
allocations in the past two years. But more than a third of the
allotted funds have gone to a select handful of groups close to
USAC, according to records from Student Government Accounting.
The Community Service Commission and its projects received
$22,454.67 in allocations, nearly 10 percent of the total surplus
allocated from fiscal years 2003 and 2004.
The Cultural Affairs Commission received $21,902, with $18,000
of their allocation for the UCLA Jazz/Reggae Festival. Campus
Events Commission and its Film and Speaker Series received over
$15,000.
These three commissions and their related groups were the
largest recipients of surplus funds.
Some USAC-sponsored student advocacy groups fared well in the
surplus allocations as well.
African Student Union received over $10,000, and Samahang
Pilipino over $13,000. These two groups and MEChA received a total
of 22.5 percent of the surplus, or $53,000.
Of the surplus funding allocated to student advocacy groups,
44.8 percent went to only two organizations: African Student Union
and Samahang Pilipino.
Five entities ““ Campus Events Commission, Cultural Affairs
Commission, Community Service Commission, African Student Union and
Samahang Pilipino ““ received 35.2 percent of the surplus, a
total of more than $83,000.
Up to 40 percent of a given year’s surplus may be
allocated for capital items, such as computers and office
furniture, including desks and file cabinets.
Base budget funding allocated to student groups typically is not
enough for them to purchase expensive items such as computers, Wood
said.
In some cases, surplus funds allow student organizations to
carry out programming their budget would not otherwise permit.
The Campus Events Commission recently appealed to council after
finding themselves in a serious budget crisis due to the actual
costs of The Roots concert in April being far higher than
expected.
“Considering we had programming that we wanted to go
through, the surplus really aided us in that goal,” said
Jason Kaminsky, the recently installed Campus Events
commissioner.
Without the surplus, recent concerts by RJD2 and the Walkmen
would have probably been canceled, Kaminsky said.
Undergraduate Students Association entities, including USAC,
commission-related groups and USAC-sponsored student advocacy
groups, have received the bulk of surplus funds in recent
years.
USAC offices and Undergraduate Students Association entities
received the largest portion of surplus funds going to
Undergraduate Students Association and USAC-sponsored student
groups, 23.3 percent of surplus, or $55,000.
Commission-related groups received 15.5 percent of surplus, or
$36,000.
Commission-related groups include Community Service Commission
projects such as Project Literacy and Best Buddies, Student Welfare
Commission events such as the IronBruin Triathlon and UCLA
Run/Walk, and Cultural Affairs Commission events such as World Fest
and the Jazz/Reggae Festival.
The remainder of the surplus allocations, 38.7 percent, or
nearly $92,000, went to 75 student groups registered with the
Center for Student Programming.