Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

SAC Budges on Funding Guidelines

The Student Activities Commission and Georgetown University Student Association Finance and Appropriations Committee SAC Liaison Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) reached a consensus Thursday evening on two of the three outstanding conditions of the six-point funding reform plan that block SAC from receiving its full Student Activities Fee allocation.

 

According to Laverriere, he and SAC have come up with feasible plans to address GUSA’s concerns about SAC’s accountability to student groups and usage of their reserve funds for immediate club needs. All five advisory boards and Georgetown Program Board have been asked to comply with the six-point funding reform plan.

 

 

 

Before Thursday’s meeting, SAC complied with three of the six conditions in the plan, including maintaining an appeals process, giving student groups control over the funds that they raise and creating a program to expand the budgets of student organizations. Its refusal to adhere to new GUSA standards resulted in a draft budget allocation of $12,500, a third amount SAC requested.

 

 

 

Laverriere and SAC did not, however, come to a consensus regarding the stipulation of meetings’ transparency, under which SAC commissioners’ votes would be made public.

 

 

 

Laverriere said he believes the two bodies will reconcile on this point of contention in the near future.

 

 

 

“I’m confident that in the weeks ahead we will be able to come to an agreement. We made a lot of good progress [last night],” Laverriere said. “This is the type of thing where we need to sit on what we discussed and come back to it.”

 

 

 

Laverriere will formally present the results of the meeting to the Finance and Appropriations Committee on Wednesday for approval. If the committee approves, the five reform points accepted by both parties will be formalized in a written agreement in order to ensure the smooth proceedings of future budget funding allocations.

 

 

 

“I would say that tonight shows progress can be made with reforming SAC, albeit gradually. [Laverriere has] done a great job working with SAC and because of his efforts, I am still hopeful that this is going to turn out well. We are going to get this right because it’s what we have to do,” Sen. Colton Malkerson (COL ’13), member of the Finance and Appropriations Committee, said.

 

 

 

According to Laverriere, the two groups continue to clash on the issue of public voting because SAC leaders have articulated a need to protect their commissioners’ interests.

 

 

 

“We believe that, if anything, [public voting] would create more dialogue and construct a better event that gets approved,” he said.

 

 

 

If the two groups are unable to come to a consensus through further dialogue, the case will be presented to a neutral university administrator for arbitration.

 

 

 

“I’m confident that through more discussion, it’s possible that this won’t even be necessary,” Laverriere said.

 

 

 

On the topic of reducing SAC reserves, Laverriere and SAC have designed a tentative plan to spend from SAC’s reserves the difference between the total amount requested from GUSA and the final amount allocated, or $12,500 if the advisory board is granted its full allocation of $25,000. The SAC reserve fund currently has a total of $215,000; this amount includes an excess reserve of $65,000, as all of the advisory boards are asked by the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs to maintain a $150,000 balance. In an e-mail sent to student organizations on Monday, SAC Chair Ethel Amponsah (NHS ’11) said that she would like to use the reserve funds to make broad-based improvements.

 

 

 

“[Spending down reserves] is not sustainable as within two years the excess funds would be depleted, and SAC would still receive insufficient funds from FinApp,” Amponsah said in the e-mail. “Instead, the commission would like to use the funds to address some of your expressed concerns and needs such as space renovations and increased storage.”

 

 

 

Laverriere stated that if SAC follows his suggested plan, the commission will still have $50,000 in excess reserves to spend on heftier projects such as student space.

 

 

 

“While I can’t mandate [that this plan] is what they do, that is the voice of the students, and if they decide otherwise, they will get complaints suggesting why [student organization] budget allocations are going to be decreased when they have money to spend,” he said.

 

 

 

According to Malkerson, the Center for Social Justice Advisory Board of Student Organizations also has particularly large reserves, but has presented a feasible plan to reduce their reserve level.

 

 

 

A preliminary deal has been struck on future SAC commissioner appointment and re-appointment. Under the proposal, new applications will be reviewed by the SAC chair, who will then select applicants to be voted on by all SAC groups for final confirmation. Returning commissioners will also be subject to a vote by the student groups they specifically oversee. If more than half of the groups vote unfavorably, the reappointment application will be then reviewed by the SAC chair, the Finance and Appropriations Committee SAC liaison and the university SAC adviser for a final decision.

 

 

 

“While it’s important to get the student feedback, it’s also important to look at it holistically and bring in different eyes,” Laverriere said.

 

 

 

According to Laverriere, if the appointment reform measure is approved, it will take effect starting in spring 2011.

 

 

 

Both parties have sought the guidance of university administrators in dealing with funding reform debates. The Finance and Appropriations Committee met with Jeanne Lord, associate vice president for student affairs, Erika Cohen-Derr, director of student programs and Lynne Hirschfeld, associate dean for finance and administration in the university student affairs office on Wednesday. SAC will also meet with the same three administrators next week.

The Finance and Appropriations Committee will formally pass its final budget proposal for the advisory boards and Georgetown Program Board on Wednesday before sending it to the GUSA Senate for approval. The committee will likely only consider budgets for the other five advisory boards and set SAC’s final budget allocation at a later date.

 

 

 

“It is possible that due to these extended talks . SAC’s budget will not be included with the annual [Student Activities Fee] budget next week. Rather, the commission may be funded through a supplemental allocation later this month or next, depending on the outcome of our discussions,” Nick Troiano (COL ’11), chair of the Finance and Appropriations Committee, said.

 

 

 

While Laverriere is certain that SAC’s budget allocation will be finalized by the end of the year, he said he cannot establish an exact timeline because of administrative meeting scheduling purposes. “The sooner the better, but we’re making sure that we look at every route possible in finding compromises,” Laverriere said.

 

 

 

In the e-mail Amponsah sent to student organizations, she claimed that many of them may experience reduced funding if SAC receives a lower budget allocation from GUSA.

 

 

 

“The marked decrease in funds will undoubtedly limit what SAC is able to fund,” she wrote in the e-mail. “. With rising space costs, new organizations and a desire for more elaborate programming, the Commission will have to decrease allocations. We are considering a decrease in standard operating budgets and are reviewing all allocations made.”

 

 

 

This led to anger and dismay among some of the student organizations that receive funding from SAC.

 

 

 

“We feel that there is no reason that SAC and GUSA should have this standoff and the longer they fight about it, the longer it will hurt clubs like us. This tiff that they’re having puts us in a really awkward position and the announcement that [SAC is] planning on cutting allocation puts the burden of conflict in our laps,” Georgetown University College Democrats President Brian Woll (COL ’12) said. “We had nothing to do with their inability to compromise, and yet we’re being punished by it.”

 

 

 

Other groups are uneasy over the threat of the possible budget cuts that would occur if they are granted fewer operating resources.

 

 

 

“[We are] gravely concerned about the future budgetary funding through SAC.

 

 

 

This year, SAC has allocated sufficient funding for AASA to execute exciting, pluralistic events for the Pan-Asian and the greater Georgetown community. We are now conscious that we will have to heavily rely on other financial sources, such as Diversity Action Council, Center for Multicultural Equity Access’ Student Of Color Alliance and [the] Lecture Fund,” Lisa He (SFS ’11), president of the Asian American Student Association, said.

 

 

 

In the wake of such responses, the Finance and Appropriations Committee has reaffirmed what it considers its first priority: resolving any disagreements it has with SAC.

 

 

 

“It is clear that SAC is unnecessarily holding groups’ budgets hostage as they continue to wage a petty battle with GUSA, which is advocating issues resoundingly supported by clubs and the student body. Ultimately, our Committee will do everything it can to ensure student clubs have access to the funding they need, and we are confident we will be able to do so,” Troiano said in an e-mail.

 

 

 

“I’ve been a firm believer that if, at the end of the day, SAC doesn’t receive an allocation from GUSA, I have failed as a GUSA senator and the commission has failed, as well, in our duties to students. It is in no way OK to push this decision down the line to next year,” Laverriere said. “This is an issue that has been years in the making, and it’s time that the lid be put on it.”

 

 

 

Ethel Amponsah, SAC chair, did not respond to requests for comment.

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