Spring Break
A year later, few complaints on funding reforms
News | 5/1/07
Posted online at 10:21 PM EST on 4/30/07
/ Last updated at 7:22 AM EST on 4/30/07
One year after a major overhaul of the club-funding system, many student groups seem satisfied with the outcome of the reforms, and complaints are few and far between.
Students approved the reforms by a wide margin last April, capping more than a year-long survey of the system by student leaders, and resolving what was often an intense debate over how to change it.
In the end, several large campus clubs who had for many years been guaranteed, fixed levels of funding were stripped of that protection and some saw their base funding were stripped of that protection and some saw their base funding level reduced, in the hopes that more money would be made available for smaller groups. Nearly all student clubs are financed through the Student Activities Fee, a charge equal to 1 percent of tuition, billed to all undergraduates and combined into a fund that currently totals about $1 million each year.
In interviews, leaders of some of those smaller groups said finances were not nearly as tight this year compared to the past, and others said their groups were funded at satisfactory levels. Leaders of clubs that were previously guaranteed funding, including some groups that took funding cuts, had few complaints, saying they were making the most of the new system.
By assigning six of the eight secured groups-excluding BTV and Waltham Group-lower baseline levels of funding, Union officials hoped to make an extra $100,000 available to chartered clubs, which were widely considered to be underfunded. Also, six of the secured groups-excluding the Justice and the Student Union itself-now need to justify their expenses before the Finance Board like chartered groups. Previously, only the Union treasurer needed to approve secured groups' budgets.
"It's making people more accountable," said Rachel Jarman '08, the editor in chief of the Archon yearbook, a secured group whose funding had often come under scrutiny. The Justice, BTV, WBRS, Student Events, Waltham Group, the Student Union and BEMCo are also secured groups.
Among chartered groups, who receive their funding from the Union's Finance Board, leaders of theater organizations said before the reform they often were grabbing at the scraps for funding, so they looked forward to the changes.
Joshua Louis Simon '07, the president of the sketch-comedy troupe Boris' Kitchen, said his group was granted the $700 it requested from the F-board at the beginning of the year. It was more, he said, than the club had received in previous years, which meant it did not have to worry about whether they could afford certain props for its show.
"It seems like a lot more clubs are getting full funding," said Simon, who is also an editor for The Blowfish, a campus humor newspaper.
Kara Manson '08, Tympanium Euphorium treasurer, expressed similar satisfaction with the change. "We didn't have to fall back on other resources" for money, such as the club's private off-campus account, she said.
Simon's support for the amendment echoed a widespread sentiment from last year, when leaders of small groups and Union officials criticized what they called the excess expenditures of secured groups.
"Would I rather have enough money to build a set or would I rather have a WBRS T-shirt?" he asked.
Leaders of WBRS and BTV, who protested the reform last year-WBRS filed a grievance with the Union Judiciary in an unsuccessful, last-minute attempt to invalidate the referendum's results-said in recent interviews that they were adversely affected by the reforms.
"$18,000 is nothing for a television organization. Equipment is very expensive," said Avi Swerdlow '10, the president of BTV. BTV received the same amount last year, but Swerdlow said the funding is insufficient. Earlier this semester, he said, BTV requested $35,000 from the F-Board to help pay for its new hourly shows and production equipment. But the panel is reluctant to increase the group's funding, he said, arguing that inflation should be taken into greater account.
WBRS did see a significant budget cut, mostly taken from the money it used to co-sponsor campus events.
"The most major spending change between last and this year was that F-Board completely cut our co-sponsorship budget so we had no money to spend on helping other clubs put on events," WBRS General Manager Hadar Sayfan '07 wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.
Secured clubs, except for the Justice, which does not receive money from the F-Board, find out today how much money they will be allotted next year.
Jenny Feinberg '07, the former Union president who made the reforms the defining issue of her presidency, deflected criticism of the reforms, saying they had proven beneficial for student life. She said WBRS seemed to be operating as smoothly as always.
Some leaders of secured groups who were once guaranteed a certain amount of money said despite insufficient funds, they have made the most of the money they were given this year.
Jarman said the Archon, whose previous editor in chief Rebecca Gedalius '06 adamantly opposed the amendment last year, was also more productive with the funds it received this year.
"I've been using my money to the best of my ability," she said.
Jarman said she cut 100 pages from the yearbook this year, reducing the budget by $10,000. Before the reform, Archon had $200,000 saved in an off-campus bank account. Jarman closed the account and now F-Board uses those funds to distribute to the Archon in increments each semester.
BEMCo treasurer Shari Seinuk '07 said a new fund for emergency expenses created by the reforms is one of the new system's main advantages. "We don't have that full jurisdiction over getting the items that you need, but we don't have to save up for years." This year, BEMCo was given enough money from the new fund to help them pay off their debt to the University for a truck they bought several years ago.
-Michelle Minkoff and Claire Moses contributed reporting.
Editor's Note: The Justice receives approximately $44,000 a year from the Student Activities Fee for printing costs. For a full disclosure of the newspaper's role in last year's SAF reforms, see this story online.
Students approved the reforms by a wide margin last April, capping more than a year-long survey of the system by student leaders, and resolving what was often an intense debate over how to change it.
In the end, several large campus clubs who had for many years been guaranteed, fixed levels of funding were stripped of that protection and some saw their base funding were stripped of that protection and some saw their base funding level reduced, in the hopes that more money would be made available for smaller groups. Nearly all student clubs are financed through the Student Activities Fee, a charge equal to 1 percent of tuition, billed to all undergraduates and combined into a fund that currently totals about $1 million each year.
In interviews, leaders of some of those smaller groups said finances were not nearly as tight this year compared to the past, and others said their groups were funded at satisfactory levels. Leaders of clubs that were previously guaranteed funding, including some groups that took funding cuts, had few complaints, saying they were making the most of the new system.
By assigning six of the eight secured groups-excluding BTV and Waltham Group-lower baseline levels of funding, Union officials hoped to make an extra $100,000 available to chartered clubs, which were widely considered to be underfunded. Also, six of the secured groups-excluding the Justice and the Student Union itself-now need to justify their expenses before the Finance Board like chartered groups. Previously, only the Union treasurer needed to approve secured groups' budgets.
"It's making people more accountable," said Rachel Jarman '08, the editor in chief of the Archon yearbook, a secured group whose funding had often come under scrutiny. The Justice, BTV, WBRS, Student Events, Waltham Group, the Student Union and BEMCo are also secured groups.
Among chartered groups, who receive their funding from the Union's Finance Board, leaders of theater organizations said before the reform they often were grabbing at the scraps for funding, so they looked forward to the changes.
Joshua Louis Simon '07, the president of the sketch-comedy troupe Boris' Kitchen, said his group was granted the $700 it requested from the F-board at the beginning of the year. It was more, he said, than the club had received in previous years, which meant it did not have to worry about whether they could afford certain props for its show.
"It seems like a lot more clubs are getting full funding," said Simon, who is also an editor for The Blowfish, a campus humor newspaper.
Kara Manson '08, Tympanium Euphorium treasurer, expressed similar satisfaction with the change. "We didn't have to fall back on other resources" for money, such as the club's private off-campus account, she said.
Simon's support for the amendment echoed a widespread sentiment from last year, when leaders of small groups and Union officials criticized what they called the excess expenditures of secured groups.
"Would I rather have enough money to build a set or would I rather have a WBRS T-shirt?" he asked.
Leaders of WBRS and BTV, who protested the reform last year-WBRS filed a grievance with the Union Judiciary in an unsuccessful, last-minute attempt to invalidate the referendum's results-said in recent interviews that they were adversely affected by the reforms.
"$18,000 is nothing for a television organization. Equipment is very expensive," said Avi Swerdlow '10, the president of BTV. BTV received the same amount last year, but Swerdlow said the funding is insufficient. Earlier this semester, he said, BTV requested $35,000 from the F-Board to help pay for its new hourly shows and production equipment. But the panel is reluctant to increase the group's funding, he said, arguing that inflation should be taken into greater account.
WBRS did see a significant budget cut, mostly taken from the money it used to co-sponsor campus events.
"The most major spending change between last and this year was that F-Board completely cut our co-sponsorship budget so we had no money to spend on helping other clubs put on events," WBRS General Manager Hadar Sayfan '07 wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.
Secured clubs, except for the Justice, which does not receive money from the F-Board, find out today how much money they will be allotted next year.
Jenny Feinberg '07, the former Union president who made the reforms the defining issue of her presidency, deflected criticism of the reforms, saying they had proven beneficial for student life. She said WBRS seemed to be operating as smoothly as always.
Some leaders of secured groups who were once guaranteed a certain amount of money said despite insufficient funds, they have made the most of the money they were given this year.
Jarman said the Archon, whose previous editor in chief Rebecca Gedalius '06 adamantly opposed the amendment last year, was also more productive with the funds it received this year.
"I've been using my money to the best of my ability," she said.
Jarman said she cut 100 pages from the yearbook this year, reducing the budget by $10,000. Before the reform, Archon had $200,000 saved in an off-campus bank account. Jarman closed the account and now F-Board uses those funds to distribute to the Archon in increments each semester.
BEMCo treasurer Shari Seinuk '07 said a new fund for emergency expenses created by the reforms is one of the new system's main advantages. "We don't have that full jurisdiction over getting the items that you need, but we don't have to save up for years." This year, BEMCo was given enough money from the new fund to help them pay off their debt to the University for a truck they bought several years ago.
-Michelle Minkoff and Claire Moses contributed reporting.
Editor's Note: The Justice receives approximately $44,000 a year from the Student Activities Fee for printing costs. For a full disclosure of the newspaper's role in last year's SAF reforms, see this story online.
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