Despite having exceeded its funding benchmark for the year, the Programs Finance Committee approved small funding increases for several campus programs and postponed a decision on the ASUO Executive’s budget during a five-and-a-half-hour session Monday night.
At the meeting, PFC Chairwoman Persis Pohowalla also said the PFC must revisit its earlier meetings to create formal minutes, but the process will be hindered because half the tape recordings of the sessions are inaudible.
So far this year, the PFC has authorized an overall 7.87 percent increase in funding for student organizations it oversees, an amount higher than the 7 percent maximum per year allowed by Green Tape Notebook rules, Pohowalla said during the meeting.
“We need to figure out a way to bring that down,” Pohowalla said.
Although she said she has ideas about how to address the problem, Pohowalla would not elaborate during the meeting, saying everyone might not agree with her plan. She said the PFC should proceed with its regular sessions and then address the problem, perhaps by looking at stipends.
The PFC concluded its regular budget hearings Tuesday night and will hear postponed budgets and budget appeals during upcoming sessions, Pohowalla said.
A form of reimbursement for leaders of student groups who incur expenses on the job, stipends have been the target of controversy since University President Dave Frohnmayer identified that some groups have devoted more money to stipends than to programs.
PFC member Eden Cortez agreed that the overall funding increase must be reduced.
“You’re right, we’re being really generous with groups,” he said. “It’s really important
to look back at groups with
major increases.”
PFC members will try to reconstruct the proceedings recorded on the inaudible tapes based on written notes and the members’ memories.
“We can’t rehear all the hearings,” she said.
Pohowalla said PFC members must vote to approve the minutes of the PFC sessions once they are all completed.
The PFC postponed a decision on the executive’s budget by a 4-0-1 vote because of concerns over the lack of transparency in the student government branch’s budget.
The executive budget includes money for the nonprofit lobbying organization Oregon Student Association.
ASUO Finance Coordinator Mike Martell said the executive cut two stipend positions to decrease its budget proposal by .1 percent from last year.
“Obviously, we recommend you give us what we ask for,” he said.
University student and former ASUO Student Senator Mike Sherman asked the PFC to review the connection between OSA and the Oregon Student Foundation, a similar nonprofit group he said contributes funds to OSA and which, he said, might hold more money the OSA could use rather than asking University students for money.
But OSA Executive Director John Wykoff said he is the main link between OSA and OSF because they both contribute to his salary, saying OSF does not hide money for OSA.
Sherman also said the executive did not include a job description for one of its stipend positions and its budget is “poorly itemized.”
“Without this further itemization, I don’t see how the PFC here can determine what this executive needs,” he said, adding that the executive should be held to “at least the minimum” standard the PFC holds all groups to.
Pohowalla agreed that the budget was unclear.
“I hope the committee strongly considers postponing this budget,” she said. “I’m sure we all have questions about it.”
In the executive’s defense, Martell said it is hard to itemize many
parts of the budget and it is easier to look at past budgets because the
executive does similar things.
But he noted that his reasoning “may not be an efficient excuse” for poor itemization.
The PFC voted 4-1 to approve the executive’s recommendation of $10,804 for the Interfraternity Council, a .004 percent increase from the group’s current budget.
Sixteen IFC supporters, dressed in shirts and ties, looked on as ASUO Controller Will Richard said the group spent all of its budget last year, recommending more money this year for the group to pay for speakers it hires for annual programs.
PFC member Mason Quiroz dissented, saying he was concerned because the PFC was over its benchmark when it approved an increase for a group without being “clear where the money goes.”
PFC members voted 4-2 to pass a budget of $18,848 for the Black Student Union, a .27 percent increase from last year. The vote came after lengthy discussion over two parts of the group’s budget.
ASUO Controller Rosie Sweetman gave the executive recommendation of $18,048, a 3.9 percent decrease, to the BSU, which has been in debt for several years because of an accounting mistake that Sweetman said wasn’t the group’s fault.
Discussion centered on BSU’s cosponsorship of another group, which some PFC members said would be inconsistent for the committee to finance because cosponsorships have been treated differently under the new accounting system adopted by the ASUO this year. The PFC eventually allocated money for that cause.
Also at the meeting, the PFC allocated $13,864, a .8 percent decrease, to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Alliance by a 5-0-1 vote.
The PFC gave the Asian Pacific American Student Union $17,263, a 3.5 percent increase, in a 4-1-1 vote after debating whether to fund
a winter retreat. The group previously used $1,000 slated for a
winter event for the retreat,
Sweetman said.
The PFC approved money for the retreat, finding that it provides ample benefit to the University.
The PFC also approved $21,682, a 3.3 percent increase, for Land Air Water in a 3-0-1 vote. The largest environmental law conference of its kind, the LAW conference hosts
several thousand visitors each
year at the University for a series
of presentations.
Cortez said ASUO Student Senator and ASUO Athletic Department Finance Committee member Kevin Day filed a grievance late last week over the PFC’s denial of the ADFC’s appeal for additional funding. Cortez said the PFC will respond to Day’s request with a letter explaining that the ADFC’s request was denied because the group failed to present additional budget information during the appeal.

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