The Student Budget Committee (SBC) has made its initial budget allocations for the fall, and while this is not the final step in the budget process, student groups have been given an idea of what sort of funding they will receive. Various changes were made to the process this year in an effort to make it more efficient and to improve relationships between the SBC and the various student groups.
Unlike past years, meetings for the initial budget allocations were held at a round table, in an effort to put the SBC members and the student group representatives on an equal footing. A more significant change has been the appointment of an SBC representative for each WSA group. All SBC members in turn are responsible for working with certain student groups to help them along at each step of the process.
“We want to get to know everybody,” said Francisco “Pacho” Carreno ’06, the WSA treasurer and SBC chair. “We believe that will help us use the money more efficiently.”
SBC funding comes from the student activities fee, a $107 charge factored into tuition that each student pays each semester, adding up to $577,800 for the academicyear. The SBC does not use the entirety of its funds each semester; in fact, the past three years, they have had a surplus of $10,000. This extra money is used to cover the inevitable deficits of certain groups, and the rest is carried over to the next semester.
The SBC recognizes that some groups may be disappointed with their initial allocations, but all groups are encouraged to present their case at future meetings of the SBC, held Fridays at 1:00 p.m., according to Carreno.
“The SBC works closely with student leaders to ensure that they are able to make their events happen,” Carreno said. “Sometimes we are able to ensure funds from the beginning, other times it takes a little bit longer.”
Certain groups, like Ujamaa, initially received far less than they had requested. Having requested $20,000, the group was initially allocated only $331, due to a sparsely detailed application. But Carreno points out that since the initial allocation, Ujamaa has received an additional $6,000. The SBC does not wish to discourage any student group, and points out in its initial allocation letter that “a lack of funding implies deferral, not rejection.”
Opinions from student groups are mixed on the new budget allocation process.
Ajua Campos only received $3,000 of its requested $13,800 needed to fund the events of Latino Awareness Month.
“I am pleased with the SBC’s initiative to diminish the power relation groups often felt in the past years,” said Jose Marantes ’06, Treasurer of Ajua Campos. “It’s important to remember that at the end of the day they are our peers and have the bigger picture of what happens with student groups at Wes in mind.”
Second Stage, responsible for many student theatre productions, has a long-standing relationship with the SBC.
“The SBC does an excellent job at the extremely daunting task of funding all our activities,” said Liz Thaler ’05, the managing liaison for Second Stage. “I found [the new process] personally rather frustrating. Putting together our proposal took great time and effort, and when I sat down for my hearing [the SBC members] hadn’t even glanced at it. They didn’t know what Second Stage was. When it’s your job to fund student groups, it’d be nice if you knew anything about them. I saw no advantage to the process change.”
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