Spring Fling. The New York Times Readership Program. Identity Months. Club Sports. Film Series. Publications. WESU. Speakers. Concerts. None of these would be possible without the funding from the Student Budgetary Committee. The SBC budget comes from a $107 Student Activities Fee that is included in tuition every semester. This fee has not been raised since 2001. As a result of inflation, an increase in the number of student groups, and decreased administration support for certain budget items (such as the New York Times Readership Program and Student Leadership Stipends), the SBC is less able to provide for student groups than it was five years ago. Already, total requests from student groups are approximately four times the SBC’s budget. This gap will only continue to widen in years to come, diminishing financial support for all student groups.
Therefore, the SBC proposes increasing the Student Activities Fee to $135 per semester. While the increase will not eliminate the total budget shortfall, it will serve to significantly alleviate these financial difficulties. This will allow the SBC to maintain our record of fairly and impartially allocating student funds, while having a more robust budget with which to work. It will be integral in maintaining student financial support for both expensive items such as the New York Times Readership program and for student groups both large and small.
As mentioned before, the financial means that keep the readership program afloat, is depleting with every year. The dean’s office has clearly expressed its inability to continue its support of the readership program as budget cuts are becoming more rampant. Moreover, with the current budget, the SBC would not be able to act as the sole sponsor for the readership program. Although members of the WSA have tried to seek other means of sponsorship for the program, particularly through trustee support, we cannot guarantee how high of a priority the readership program is to members of the board and senior staff. Therefore, the only assured way the student body can enjoy the benefits of having the New York Times on campus is to support an increase in student budget.
Another big-ticket item that would certainly benefit from an increase in the student budget is Spring Fling. It is understood that the student body would like to have more popular artists come and perform at Wesleyan. Unfortunately in the past, the SBC nor the administration have had the finances or the resources to able to accommodate big-ticket performers. For example, last year the Social Committee was able to arrange a performance by Cam’ron at Spring Fling. The administration, however, felt that such a prominent performer necessitated additional security due to the fact that there would be an overwhelming amount of non-Wesleyan students sneaking on campus for the show. Unfortunately, at that time, the SBC was unable to shoulder the costs of having additional security on campus to check student IDs. This measure forced the Social Committee to drop Cam’ron’s performance and look elsewhere for a more suitable artist. If the student activity fee is increased, the Social Committee will have greater flexibility in signing artists for Spring Fling. Incidentally, the previous problem of having the means for additional security will not be a concern.
Although the big-ticket items such as the readership program and Spring Fling are important, it is the future of student groups that will gain the most from a more fruitful budget. There have been countless occasions that students have come to the SBC with fantastic proposals worth funding fully. Each week, however, the SBC continually finds itself under significant financial duress and as a result, is unable to funds student groups to the extent that it would like. This is frustrating for both student group members who put real time and effort into their causes and for SBC members who realize the proposals before them are valid, but simply cannot be funded within the current budget.
The Student Activities Fee is described on Wesleyan’s website as a fee put in place to “support student activities.” The current Student Activities Fee clearly does not offer students the support they deserve. By raising the Student Activities fee to $135 per semester, student groups would be much more likely to see their proposals come to fruition. The entire Wesleyan student body would reap the benefits of such an increase, in the form of a wider array of student life offerings.
Please support your campus by voting FOR a $28 increase in the upcoming winter elections.
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