The ASUO Programs Finance Committee met again Jan. 15 for the five-hour process of increasing, decreasing and discontinuing student group budgets.
Kicking off the evening was a 5.9 percent increase to $4,923 for the Oregon Marine Student Association, an off-campus branch of the University’s Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, located in Charleston.
“I’m really happy with the increase,” OMSA member Jule Schultz said. “It’s going to help us participate in campus activities to a greater degree.”
Schultz said he expects graduate enrollment in the program to double and undergraduate student enrollment to increase from 50 to about 100.
The ASUO Student Senate received a 1.33 percent decrease because of poor budget itemization, but it does have the option of reworking its budget and appealing the decision.
“We can’t fund everyone at the level that they want,” PFC Chairman Adrian Gilmore said. “We fund to the best of our ability. It’s not everything, but it gives you something to work with.”
University Mentor Program Director Sydney Ledford asked for a budget decrease. Although the program is growing, per-person wages have decreased as new hires entered and an $8,000 surplus ensued. The PFC praised the group’s budget itemization and promptly granted them a 6.3 percent decrease.
The University Women’s Center closed at a budget of $141,714, though this was not quite the increase the organization asked for. The group strives to increase awareness about partner violence, bring about social change and gender equality, and organize events in the community for women and men who want to participate. Program Director Lisa Foisy wanted the budget increase to cover climbing mailing costs. However, she said she was not wholeheartedly disappointed with the results.
“I trusted the process,” Foisy said. “They worked hard at understanding our numbers, and they were fair.”
Other developments included an increase for the Men’s Center budget to $6,662; The Panhellenic Council received a 7.08 percent increase for a total budget of $11,022; unallocated reserves stayed at $10,000 with no increase; The Oregon Commentator closed at $15,502 with a 2.89 percent increase; The Student Insurgent got a 6.1 percent increase for a total of $15,502; and the Oregon Asklepiads did not receive any funding at all because they failed to show up.