The roughly $700,000 that the Student Association budgets annually for student groups will be allocated differently this year — and the SA Financial Council hopes that the often-contentious process will be made faster, more transparent and more objective.
For the first time, FinCo will give certain groups the option of accepting automatic level funding for the next academic year, allowing them to receive the same budget they did this year without having to present to FinCo at a budgetary hearing.
These student groups, classified as “A” groups, will have the option to accept level funding by notifying SA Treasurer Aaron Ricks by Friday, March 16.
Ricks, a junior majoring in political science who is running for SA vice president for academic affairs, said the new procedures will save time and protect student groups.
“Groups that have level funding are groups who are operating according to expectations,” Ricks said. “There are groups that are responsible, and they deserve to be rewarded. So the purpose of the level funding is that it’s less hassle for them and they are protected from the assembly touching their budgets.”
Ricks said he, Karl Bernhardsen, vice president for finance, and David Hagerbaumer, executive director of the SA, came up with the idea for level funding during last year’s budgeting process. After FinCo spent three weeks meeting with groups, the budgets of most student groups did not change from the previous year.
“Every group wants an increase, but it’s financially impossible,” Ricks said. “Most of these groups’ budgets weren’t changing, and we were still making them come in for budget procedures. They still had to do a presentation and they still had to worry about the Assembly wanting to change their budget somehow. This way, we have a type of protection for student groups.”
“A” groups that still want to increase their budgets can refuse level funding, with the risk of it then being decreased by FinCo.
“If they want to make a presentation they can, but if they make a presentation they have to impress the Financial Council there,” Ricks said. “If you’re an ‘A’ group, chances are you’ll be OK, but there’s less risk if you take the level funding option.”
Out of more than 200 student groups, about 60 were given the option to accept level funding, Ricks said.
When the budget procedures were presented to the Assembly, a few members initially expressed concern that representatives would be unable to review budgets of groups who have accepted level funding, according to Ricks.
“There was a little opposition to this particular piece, but most members of the Assembly understood,” Ricks said.
After discussing the measures, the Assembly voted unanimously to enact the new budget procedures.
Student groups catalogued as “B” and “C” groups will not receive the option of level funding and must attend a budget hearing with FinCo.
The procedures state that “B” groups are those close to achieving “A” status, with some exception. They may be offered level funding at their hearing if FinCo feels they have addressed all concerns. “C” groups are not eligible to receive level funding at any point during the budget process.
He said that being labeled “B” or “C” does not mean a group’s budget will automatically be cut.
“’B’ or ‘C’ doesn’t mean you’re bad; it just means we want you to come in for a hearing. We want to speak with you and get more information,” Ricks said. “It’s just that with those groups, we’ve learned things from the data gathering process that we want to talk to them about.”
FinCo’s new data-gathering method combines information from the VPF’s office and the SA executive vice president’s office to determine classifications for student groups.
According to the budget procedures, information considered will include fundraising, expenditures, projected income, budget history and outstanding purchase order histories, as well as whether or not they registered on time, how often they check their mailboxes and how well they have adhered to their constitutional requirements.
“We’re trying hard to make our budget decisions as objective as possible, so we’re getting more facts available for the Financial Council,” Ricks said. “These are all things that affect how a group operates.”
Ricks said he hopes the procedures will change FinCo’s perception on campus.
“Every student group thinks FinCo makes its decisions based on how much they like people,” Ricks said. “I was a member of FinCo last year and that’s not what we did at all, but that’s the perception. We are gathering data, we’re not just making decisions on the fly.”
FinCo held a mandatory conference with student group leaders on Sunday, March 11. Members were informed about the process of level funding, given their classification status and given budget packets to fill out and return to the SA office.
The budget packets require information from student groups including their current budget allocation, a statement as to how their budget has been used, what budget the group is requesting and what the group plans to do with the proposed budget.
Bernhardsen told student groups at the conference that level funding would help ensure that “A” groups would receive the money they need in light of a less generous budget environment overall.
Though Bernhardsen said the total amount of money allocated for student groups next year will not change significantly, he said the amount of money released from the SA’s “retained earnings,” an SA reserve account, will be cut. He added that the reductions will most likely not affect student groups.
“In the past couple years, $250,000 have been released,” Bernhardsen told student groups. “This year there is less money, so we don’t have as much money to play with and roll around when making our decisions. [Level funding] is for extra security if you would like to accept this option.”
Bernhardsen said that the past two years’ retained earnings releases — with excess funds split for student groups, Off Campus College Transport, the Student Association Programming Board and administrative expenses — were unsustainable. He described this year’s scaled-down release as “normalizing.”
He could not yet confirm the specific amount that will be released for next year, but said that the change would be mostly reflected in decreased administrative spending by the SA office.
“This makes it less likely that student groups will see increases,” Bernhardsen told Pipe Dream. “But most groups should be able to maintain their budgets.”
The Student Psychological Association was one of the groups that received the option of level funding. Devin Young, president of the association and a senior double-majoring in psychology and English, said he supports the new budget procedures.
“The new process is easier and fairer for the student groups,” Young said. “It seems like a good, efficient process.”
Hector Zelaya, president of High Hopes Crisis Intervention and a senior double-majoring in biology and anthropology, agreed.
“We did not receive level funding,” Zelaya said. “But the level funding process seems smoother and easier for everyone.”
In addition to the new group classification system and database, FinCo said it will also be making its decision-making process more transparent.
Last year, the publication of FinCo’s meeting notes, or minutes, exposed disparaging remarks made toward numerous student groups, most notably calling Black Student Union “one of those shitty welfare groups.”
This year, FinCo is working to ensure that a minute-taker is at every meeting to record the decision-making process for the public.
“We want all groups to know why a decision was made and what the vote total was. If they ask, we do want groups to know,” Ricks said. “And we want to increase professionalism within the Financial Council so we know what points were made, and what the affecting factors were in the decisions.”