By Susannah Waite, Editor-in-Chief
Student Government Association has nearly $12,000 less in its fall budget this academic year.
Student Senate approved the $106,000 budget in its Sept. 3 meeting.
The budget decreased for the first time in several years.
The Fall 2012 SGA budget was $117,700.
SGA President Beatrize Martinez spent the summer creating the budget and deciding where cuts were appropriate.
“I approached the numbers spent last year and tried to gauge do we really need this,” she said.
There are several additional line items to the budget this year that were not in the previous budget.
SGA budget is supporting Student Life’s new OrgSync software, the software for the Involved site. This accounts for $2,000 of the fall budget.
Stars Advantage cards, which offers discounts to a variety of businesses near OCU, also were added for about $350.
“Students definitely are going to be recipients of the Stars Advantage Cards,” Martinez said. “They won’t pay for those.”
The budget also includes more than $3,000 for 11 SGA members to attend a conference in Dallas.
“We are trying to prepare SGA to be more informed leaders,” Martinez said. “It is a training conference to help us grow.
“I believe training is critically important, and they will benefit from initiatives we’ll be able to put forth.”
Student Activities Council spent less than the budgeted amount for the Back to School Bash on August 22.
The event was allotted about $2,500.
Allotments for organizations totaled to about $12,600 this semester.
Sean McDivitt, appropriations chairman and law senator, said the appropriations committee has worked on guidelines for organizations when they come to request money.
About $17,000 was allotted to rolling appropriations, according to the Fall 2013 budget.
This funding is reserved for organizations or individuals who request money through bills at Student Senate.
“I’m not willing to lock in numbers, that takes out discretion on both sides,” McDivitt said. “Generally though, we are not going to fund the whole request.”
The appropriations committee works with organizations prior to the bill being heard on the floor to review documentation of funds.
“We assist them as much as we can,” McDivitt said. “We are going to review the bills and make a responsible recommendation for them.”
To view full budget, click here.
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