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ASUO Senate to vote on 17 dispersal proposals for $200K surplus from 2007-08 school year
by Thomas Martinez |
The ASUO Student Senate will vote on 17 ideas for how to spend $200,000 of your student fee money at tonight's Senate meeting. Although these special requests are not out of the ordinary, the method through which the ideas were gathered strays from the beaten path. All the requests were generated within three weeks, extraordinarily hastily for the process, and they were all collected by ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz.
Moreover, the large volume of requests and the amount being allocated is unusual for this time of year.
The proposals range from a $25,000 Blue Scholars Concert to a $1,300 paid staff position at the Multicultural Center, and any ideas that don't get approved tonight are dead in the water.
The Senate meeting takes place in the EMU Board Room tonight at 7 p.m.
Where the money came from
The over-realized fund is composed of excess funds from the Incidental Fee, a $195 fee that all students pay each term. Through the ASUO, the Incidental Fee finances various student programs and activities across campus. In essence, the money student groups spend this year came from last year's student fees.
Usually, more students than projected attend the University, so there is excess revenue from the $195 fee. That "over-realized" fund has been nearly as high as $800,000 in past years, and it can be compounded over time if student leaders choose to save it for a rainy day.
If student leaders spend that money, they typically take idea proposals during winter and spring terms. An ASUO Senate committee takes the proposals, makes a recommendation, and the Senate eventually votes on how to spend the over-realized funds. It's a hectic process that causes many student groups to scramble for their piece of the pie.
Usually, the ASUO spends almost all of the over-realized funds using this method.
But not last year.
In early September, ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz spoke with Jean Sun, business manager of the EMU, who told him there was $138,017 left over. Just more than $64,000 was added to this from the unapproved BWA Hair Show, leaving more than $200,000 of over-realized funds from 2007-08. In order to be processed in time for this academic year, proposals had to be submitted by Sept. 26.
Instead of letting the money roll over into next year's funds, Dotters-Katz decided to take the final three weeks of summer to drum up spending ideas.
Coming up with ideas
Dotters-Katz talked to dozens of student groups and asked if they had ideas for how to spend the money.
"I immediately began talking to as many group leaders as I could find in the EMU at the time," said Dotters-Katz. "It was hard because it was the end of the summer, nobody was around."
He acquired 17 proposals before the Sept. 26 deadline, some of which were entirely the ideas of student groups; others, such as the Blue Scholars concert, were almost entirely his work.
Despite the speed at which the proposals were generated, there hasn't been any noticeable animosity.
"My concern isn't how fast the proposals came to us, my concern is that we won't have time to address the proposals and we'll just end up passing them all," said ASUO Senator Nick Gower.
The Wednesday meeting is expected to last well beyond its regularly scheduled 11 p.m. ending, and the length could put extra stress on the senators involved.
"We're prepared to deal with the amount of special requests," said ASUO Senator Jordan Schenck. "But it's going to be a challenge."
The extra money must be spent before June 15, or it rolls over into next year's over-realized fund.
tmartinez@dailyemerald.com
Moreover, the large volume of requests and the amount being allocated is unusual for this time of year.
The proposals range from a $25,000 Blue Scholars Concert to a $1,300 paid staff position at the Multicultural Center, and any ideas that don't get approved tonight are dead in the water.
The Senate meeting takes place in the EMU Board Room tonight at 7 p.m.
|
Where the money came from
The over-realized fund is composed of excess funds from the Incidental Fee, a $195 fee that all students pay each term. Through the ASUO, the Incidental Fee finances various student programs and activities across campus. In essence, the money student groups spend this year came from last year's student fees.
Usually, more students than projected attend the University, so there is excess revenue from the $195 fee. That "over-realized" fund has been nearly as high as $800,000 in past years, and it can be compounded over time if student leaders choose to save it for a rainy day.
If student leaders spend that money, they typically take idea proposals during winter and spring terms. An ASUO Senate committee takes the proposals, makes a recommendation, and the Senate eventually votes on how to spend the over-realized funds. It's a hectic process that causes many student groups to scramble for their piece of the pie.
Usually, the ASUO spends almost all of the over-realized funds using this method.
But not last year.
In early September, ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz spoke with Jean Sun, business manager of the EMU, who told him there was $138,017 left over. Just more than $64,000 was added to this from the unapproved BWA Hair Show, leaving more than $200,000 of over-realized funds from 2007-08. In order to be processed in time for this academic year, proposals had to be submitted by Sept. 26.
Instead of letting the money roll over into next year's funds, Dotters-Katz decided to take the final three weeks of summer to drum up spending ideas.
Coming up with ideas
Dotters-Katz talked to dozens of student groups and asked if they had ideas for how to spend the money.
"I immediately began talking to as many group leaders as I could find in the EMU at the time," said Dotters-Katz. "It was hard because it was the end of the summer, nobody was around."
He acquired 17 proposals before the Sept. 26 deadline, some of which were entirely the ideas of student groups; others, such as the Blue Scholars concert, were almost entirely his work.
Despite the speed at which the proposals were generated, there hasn't been any noticeable animosity.
"My concern isn't how fast the proposals came to us, my concern is that we won't have time to address the proposals and we'll just end up passing them all," said ASUO Senator Nick Gower.
The Wednesday meeting is expected to last well beyond its regularly scheduled 11 p.m. ending, and the length could put extra stress on the senators involved.
"We're prepared to deal with the amount of special requests," said ASUO Senator Jordan Schenck. "But it's going to be a challenge."
The extra money must be spent before June 15, or it rolls over into next year's over-realized fund.
tmartinez@dailyemerald.com
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