Students will soon have the chance to play a little round of ‘Who wants to spend $100,000?’ — but the money will have to benefit campus, and the contest won’t include talk show host Regis Philbin.
The ASUO has kicked off its “$100,000 Bucks for Ducks” campaign, which aims to give students some say on where their incidental fees go. On the hunt for students’ ideas on how to spend $100,000, the ASUO promises to fund the best project that abides by the rules and benefits campus.
The $100,000 comes from an overrealized account, which contains leftover incidental fee money from prior years. Students pay incidental fees each year that depend on the estimated enrollment. But if enrollment is higher than expected, the extra funds go into the overrealized account, which is saved until it reaches a substantially high number and can be invested in a large project.
The last large-scale plan using money from the account was construction of the EMU Amphitheater in 1996.
After spring term, the account balance may be close to $800,000, ASUO President Jay Breslow said, and the ASUO is discussing ideas such as campus lighting improvement for the bulk of the money.
A $100,000 chunk, however, is designated solely for “Bucks for Ducks.”
But students who dream of a giant mudslide or a large, wild duck party shouldn’t get their hopes up. The bucks can’t be spent on just anything.
Student suggestions cannot require building anything new, but they may involve alterations to existing structures. The cost must be one-time-only, which would exclude any kind of scholarship or endowment. The proposal should also serve a large number of students, and cannot include alcohol.
A four-member committee, comprised of three ASUO members and one administrator, will review the student proposals and choose its favorite. ASUO public relations director Jamie Gerlitz, who is coordinating the campaign, said a final decision should be made by late April.
Senate President Peter Watt, a member of the committee, said the campaign’s main target is the student population that is not usually heard from within the ASUO.
“I hope students and student groups not necessarily involved with student government will have projects they care about and bring them to our attention,” he said. “With a lot of student government campaigns, the same people are involved and they bring the same ideas. This is an opportunity to get new voices involved.”
Gerlitz added that the administration’s involvement with the campaign, which includes representation on the committee and contributions to advertising costs, also helps bring the administration and students together on the same forum on how to spend fees.
With the current controversies surrounding proper incidental fee use, one of the biggest arguments has been that students don’t have much control over the fee. Gerlitz said the campaign is a good way to reach out to students and make them feel like they do indeed have a voice.
Students “don’t really have a lot of say in how the student fee is used,” she said. “This puts some power back into their hands.”
The deadline to submit ideas to the ASUO Executive is April 20.