The Student Services Finance Committee met Monday night to finalize the Campus Women’s Center budget and decreased funding in several areas to come to an agreement.
Campus Women’s Center
Rep. Kyle Watter motioned to decrease the center’s funding for advertisements from $5,000 to $4,000, something he deemed fair as he said the center has typically underspent in this area in the past.
Watter’s proposed motion passed with a vote of 8-0.
Watter also moved to decrease the printing costs from $5,000 to $4,000, which Rep. Srinighi Emkay furthered, by moving to decrease it to $3,000.
The printing fund decrease to $3,000 also passed in an 8-0 vote.
Spooky SSFC holds budget hearing, approves Working Class Student Union budget
Rep. Colin Barushok motioned for a decrease in supplies for a the center’s Kids Night Out program, calling to decrease the amount allotted from $550 to $300. Rep. Miona Short, however, said this seemed too stringent and made an amendment to increase the amount to $400.
“Despite focusing on past years, I think $300 will be a little tight,” Short said. “$400 would give them enough room to breathe without being careless.”
The decrease in the budget for Kids Night Out from $550 to $400 passed in a 7 to 1 vote.
But due to the center’s “chronic” underspending, Rep. Brent Johnson moved to decrease the academic salary line from $55,093.75 to $45,687.50, for a total decrease of $9,406.25, which equates to three-hour cuts of workers. Johnson said this would be a good way to “knock out” a chunk of money where the center underspends.
Barushok said he doesn’t believe this motion would align with SSFC’s mission and deemed it too large of a cut.
“This may be a good way to knock out about $10,000 but I don’t see how this is fair,” Barushok said. “We aren’t in the business of taking away the ability of our groups to be productive and get stuff done. I ask the committee to consider the impact this decrease would have on the leadership of this group and the people in these positions.”
Watter said he agreed with Barushok and would prefer to see a decrease in two hours as opposed to three for a total of $48,171.75. Vice Chair Brett DuCharme said this decision is more reasonable and SSFC should give the center the benefit of the doubt with this extra funding.
The motion to decrease funding from $55,093.75 to $48,171.75 passed with a vote of 7-1, and SSFC unanimously agreed on the overall budget of CWC to be $77,163.75.
F.H. King Students for Sustainable Agriculture
F.H. King Students for Sustainable Agriculture also presented their budget at Monday’s meeting.
In their presentation, Finance Director Anna Wright said they recognized that some underspending last year was attributed to miscommunication within their organization.
Wright said this miscommunication could be attributed to “rocky” leadership transitions and the fact that the group doesn’t work on a hierarchical system, meaning they rely heavily on communication.
The decision on F. H. King’s budget will be made at the committee’s next meeting Thursday, Nov. 5.