The ASUO will be forced to cut services for next year because of financial worries, despite plans to increase budgets dramatically, ASUO senators said at their meeting Wednesday night.
Discussion of the problems was spurred by a request from the Outdoor Program’s Bike Loan Program for funding next year. Many senators said they wanted to fund the program, which loans bicycles abandoned on campus to students, but did not believe they could under the restrictions ASUO rules place on annual budget growth.
University rules prevent the ASUO from raising its budgets by more than 7 percent per year. The Senate has already approved plans to increase two of its four budgets by the full 7 percent next year, while the budget for University departments is also expected to get the maximum possible increase to fund Campus Recycling’s compost initiative. These increases, senators said, would make it very difficult to accommodate the Bike Loan Program.
“I want to fund this terribly,” Sen. Sandy Weintraub said.
Maximum increases are expected in the budgets for the EMU Board, which funds programs in the EMU, and the Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee and Department Finance Committee. ASUO senators said budget concerns over the EMU Board were especially acute.
At many universities, student unions contain revenue-generating services like school bookstores and barbershops, but EMU Board members said University rules do not allow such services to enter the EMU, which means that even the 7 percent increase does not give the building enough to run all of its programs.
The board has taken belt-tightening measures, including cancelling its own phone service, to free funding for its programs, Haley said.
While senators said the EMU Board’s problems are perpetual, trouble with specific programs has created headaches for the ACFC and DFC this year. The ACFC planned its budget for this year under the assumption that it would relinquish control of the contract with the Lane Transit District for bus service next year because of ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz’s proposal to create a separate fee to fund transportation, which would have meant their budget for next year would decrease.
However, the Oregon University System’s board this week rebuffed Dotters-Katz’s initial proposal for the fee, which Senate President Alex McCafferty said would force the ASUO to fund LTD for another year.
“We’re probably going to need to make cuts somewhere,” McCafferty said.
Weintraub said the University should deal with the problems by removing restrictions on budget growth.
“What we are doing now is fitting under a number that doesn’t help students,” Weintraub said.
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Financial troubles hinder campus, ASUO
Daily Emerald
February 5, 2009
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