Spring Break
SGA gains control of $1.8 million in student activity fees
CAROLYN CRIST
Issue date: 10/28/09 Section: News
Now the Student Government Association can decide where your money goes.
Starting in the spring, SGA will allocate the student activity fee. A committee of students will distribute all-campus allocations, which involves large groups such as University Union, Black Affairs Council and Intramural Sports. The responsibility comes with a $1.8 million price tag that is divvied up among about 50 organizations for programming. This does not include the clubs that get funding from colleges on campus.
The committee, previously composed of Campus Life Business Office staff members, will draw 10 students from leadership positions across campus - five SGA senators, one graduate student and four students from Campus Life, Intercultural Affairs and Recreational Sports within the Department of Student Affairs. The committee will be selected this semester, undergo educational training about budgeting in January, conduct hearings of the student groups in March and submit a budget recommendation to Student Affairs in April.
For SGA President Katie Barlow, this is the main reason she, Vice President Cameron Secord and Treasurer Joe Chaudoin ran for their positions last spring.
"Our original thought was that SGA, elected by students, should actively participate in how students' money is used," she said. "Handling this responsibility and working with student groups holds us directly accountable. SGA should not be a popularity contest, as some seem to think."
The SGA administration began working with Rodney Bennett, vice president for student affairs, in May to determine the logistics of transferring power. They submitted a final proposal to Bennett on Monday to request the "jurisdiction to create and chair an allocation committee" for the activity fee. Bennett approved the request Monday "after careful consideration and months of discussions."
"During the campaign, they approached me as candidates and asked about this as a possibility," Bennett said Tuesday. "I believed in their vision, skill set and determination. Of all the SGA administrations, they are the best suited to create and carry out this committee."
Starting in the spring, SGA will allocate the student activity fee. A committee of students will distribute all-campus allocations, which involves large groups such as University Union, Black Affairs Council and Intramural Sports. The responsibility comes with a $1.8 million price tag that is divvied up among about 50 organizations for programming. This does not include the clubs that get funding from colleges on campus.
The committee, previously composed of Campus Life Business Office staff members, will draw 10 students from leadership positions across campus - five SGA senators, one graduate student and four students from Campus Life, Intercultural Affairs and Recreational Sports within the Department of Student Affairs. The committee will be selected this semester, undergo educational training about budgeting in January, conduct hearings of the student groups in March and submit a budget recommendation to Student Affairs in April.
For SGA President Katie Barlow, this is the main reason she, Vice President Cameron Secord and Treasurer Joe Chaudoin ran for their positions last spring.
"Our original thought was that SGA, elected by students, should actively participate in how students' money is used," she said. "Handling this responsibility and working with student groups holds us directly accountable. SGA should not be a popularity contest, as some seem to think."
The SGA administration began working with Rodney Bennett, vice president for student affairs, in May to determine the logistics of transferring power. They submitted a final proposal to Bennett on Monday to request the "jurisdiction to create and chair an allocation committee" for the activity fee. Bennett approved the request Monday "after careful consideration and months of discussions."
"During the campaign, they approached me as candidates and asked about this as a possibility," Bennett said Tuesday. "I believed in their vision, skill set and determination. Of all the SGA administrations, they are the best suited to create and carry out this committee."
