Editor’s note: This is part three of a three-part series tracking the allocation of student-activity fees. Part one focused on the distribution process. Part two examined the departments that applied for an increase in funding for 2011-2012. Part three focuses on how UOSA distributes its money.
Funding student organizations and improving UOSA administrative functions motivated three students and one administrator to allocate an additional $12,470.20 in student-activity fee revenues to student government rather than other Student Affairs departments.
The Student Activity Fee Committee — made up of UOSA President Franz Zenteno, Student Congress Chairman Brett Stidham, Graduate Student Senate Chairman Derrell Cox and Student Affairs Vice President Clarke Stroud — alloted more than $2.4 million in projected student-activity fee revenues for the 2011-2012 academic year to UOSA and six other departments during its March 4 meeting.
Almost 25 percent of next year’s projected student-activity fee revenues was allotted to UOSA, making it the only organization since 2009 to receive a budget increase.
Counseling and Testing Services, Number Nyne Crisis Center, Fitness and Recreation, the dean of Students, Student Life and Student Media have operated under the same student-fee allocation for the last two years, according to the budget in the OU Board of Regents’ agenda.
Adding in funds not used up by administrative UOSA organizations and student organizations last year, the UOSA Budgetary Committee had $692,684.19 to allocate for the 2011-2012 academic year.
Next year’s budget for administrative UOSA organizations — such as Campus Activities Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Housing Center Student Association — totals $492,295.69, according to the primary funding bill approved by the Graduate Student Senate on April 10. This is $8,702.90 more than UOSA’s 2010-2011 administrative budget.
The total money allocated to student organizations that applied for primary funding for the next academic year is $200,428.50, according to the primary funding bill for student organizations, also approved by GSS on April 10. This is $15,978.40 less than the total allocated last year.
The addition of a UOSA webmaster position to maintain and update student-government websites and an increase in student organizations that use most of their allocated funds influenced the committee’s decision to grant the additional revenue to UOSA, said Brett Stidham, Undergraduate Student Congress chair and Student Activity Fee Committee member.
UOSA’s application for extra funding from student activity fees outlined $2,465 to fund the webmaster position and $993 for automatic adjustments in benefits for UOSA’s two full-time staffers — administrative assistant Debbie Strong and financial associate Nicole Pharoah.
The webmaster position was created so UOSA could comply with Open Meetings requirements and make changes to UOSA websites, said Derrell Cox, Graduate Student Senate chair and Student Activity Fee Committee member.
Graduate student research grants totaled $2,500 more than last year, according to OU’s 2012 funding bill. Graduate students rely on student-activity fee funds to conduct research because reduced state funding for higher education has caused university departments to cut back on funds available for research, Cox said in an email.
“In many cases, conducting and presenting their research would be impossible without grants from various funding sources, including GSS,” Cox said in an email. “For the large majority of the students who receive GSS grants, the primary beneficiary of their research is the public."
The Budgetary Committee set aside $11,000 for emergency funding for student organizations next semester, UOSA Budget Chair Sean Bender said in an email. Money that is not used up by student organizations by the end of this semester will be allocated as subsidiary funding next semester.
Less money was allocated to student organizations for the next academic year because fewer organizations applied for primary funding than in 2010, Bender said in an email. Primary funding for 2011-2012 was allocated to 161 student organizations — 15 fewer than in 2010. However, of the 176 organizations that applied for primary funding for 2010-2011, 74 did not receive 2011-2012 primary funding.
Of the 102 student organizations that applied for primary funding for both the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 academic years, 54 received an increase in funds, 31 received less and 17 received the same.
The Daily sent inquiries to seven organizations that received $700 to $1,100 decreases in funding for the next academic year and three replied.
Ahsanur Rahman, Student Association of Bangladesh president, said in an email he didn't know why his organization received less funding for next year, but his organization is still arranging funds from other sources.
Erin Weese, Facilitating African Rehabilitation president, said the organization received $775 less this year because members were unaware that it had $975 in available funds last year.
It is standard practice of the Budgetary Committee to re-evaluate funding of organizations that didn't use all of their allocated money in 2010, Bender said during the April 10 GSS meeting.
Young Democrats treasurer Samuel Peyton said the organization didn't need a large budget next year because the next academic year doesn't coincide with any important elections.
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billyadams 1 year, 1 month ago
Just an FYI. Your headline says that the budget grew by $12,470,000 - Not $12,470.