The ASUO Programs Finance Committee has completed the first round of mission and goal statement hearings for student groups.
PFC approved a majority of statements Monday, making only minor changes to a few groups.
Seven mission and goal statements were tabled because they didn’t meet satisfactory PFC standards. Separate hearings will be set for each tabled statement.
Student group mission and goal statements — which are required for funding — outline the groups’ missions and what kind of goals or events the group plans to accomplish. These statements are required to include an anti-discrimination statement and a legal compliance statement stating they operate within state and federal laws governing fee-funded groups.
According to the Clark Document, the mission and goal statements must also meet a state law authorizing the Oregon State Board of Higher Education to collect student fees to fund only those programs that promote the “cultural and physical development of students.”
Monday’s session was one of many PFC-related meetings that will take place during the annual incidental fee allocation process that sets student group budgets for the next school year. Last year, student fees funded more than $8 million in programs and services, almost $4.3 million of which was distributed by PFC.
After mission and goal statements are all approved, the PFC will begin examining budgets for individual student groups and programs.
The committee has already accepted proposals from groups with budgets less than $7,000, and will soon take proposals from larger student groups. Specific PFC hearings to debate proposals start
in January.
“I think our goal as a committee is to abide by our policies and maintain an equal decision basis for all groups,” PFC chairwoman Kate Shull said.
PFC Executive Appointee Mike Martell agreed.
“I just want the student fees to be allocated the best way possible,” he said.
The annual PFC budget hearing process may not be easy for many students to follow, but the outcome affects how millions of dollars in student incidental fees are distributed to programs.
Each year, student groups are assigned a PFC member as a “tag” to communicate between PFC and the group. These tags meet with the groups to help them develop a program budget, which is then submitted back to PFC for approval.
“We try to compromise over an acceptable budget between the tag and the group,” Martell said. He added that PFC then debates those proposals.
Next, the budgets move to the ASUO Student Senate for approval. After debate and approval in the senate, the budgets must receive final approval from ASUO President Rachel Pilliod, University President Dave Frohnmayer and Oregon
University System Chancellor Richard Jarvis.