Over the next three weeks, the Finance Council of the Associated Student Government will be meeting to balance the student activities budget for next year.

The process is designed to distribute money fairly among the student activities which include the ASG, Forensics, SAB, athletics, student senate, Advocate/Venture, Perceptions magazine and KDOX.

In October, Marci Husby, the director of finance for the ASG, sent out a request asking the groups to turn in their budget for 2006-2007. The budgets are submitted to the council, and then each organization appoints a representative.

In November, these representatives attend four two-hour meetings, listen to other budget presentations and then deliberate and discuss how to balance the budget. Each organization has one representative and one vote, making up eight votes in the council.

The revenue for next year hinges upon expected enrollment. The money that helps these programs function is generated through the student activities fee students pay upon enrolling. The projected revenue for the 2006-2007 school year is approximately $305,000. Unfortunately, this is less than the current budget by over $25,000.

Joe Fischer, the associate vice president of student life, is hoping the rollover, money left over from this year, will be enough to compensate for the projected deficit. For the meantime, however, decisions will have to be made on where to cut.

Because it’s the students from the programs making the decisions, they get to be involved in their own budget cuts and have an opportunity to discuss the proposed cuts with the committee. “I actually think this is a great process; it gives everyone a voice,” said Husby.
Last year was thought to be one of the worst budget years ever for the student activities because enrollment was projected to be low. They had to cut a lot, but Husby was impressed with how well everyone worked together to balance the budget. “They really worked as a team,” she said. In the end, when enrollment came in for 2005-2006, and rollover was added in, they weren’t nearly as bad off as they thought they would be.

The percentage everyone receives varies depending on the organizations. It’s board policy that athletics gets 50 percent of the budget after the contingency fund and the fixed costs are removed. For next year, that’s projected to be approximately $132,000.

Perceptions magazine, which is requesting $6,350 would get $500 more than last year. KDOX, the Advocate, and Venture magazine are also on the lower end of the spectrum, each requesting less than $10,000. The student senate, SAB, Forensics (speech), and the ASG take up the higher end of the scale.

Shannon Valdivia, the speech and forensics instructor, said, “I feel the process is fair,” adding, “It’s more appropriate for the students to be fighting for their programs.”

When they are finished at the end of fall term, the budget will go to the ASG Executive Board, which has an opportunity to cut costs and add expenditures for non-recognized programs and funding requests.

Then there will be two public meetings scheduled in early 2006, where students can go and check out the proposed budget. After the ASG revises the budget again, it will then be presented to the student senate in April for approval. From there it will move up the ladder to be included in MHCC’s final budget in late May.