The ASUO is being overcharged by upwards of $100,000 in overhead costs this year, according to ASUO representatives.
Every department at the University has to pay an assessment that is a percentage of its overall budget to the University. The ASUO usually pays a discounted assessment that comes to only 5 percent of their budget, $660,876, but this year that number was raised to 6 percent, or $793,052.
The additional overhead costs have not been confirmed by the administration. In an email from Kathie Stanley, the chief of staff of Student Affairs, she said she has yet to determine if the ASUO is paying a higher amount than was expected.@@http://vpsa.uoregon.edu/staff@@
ASUO President Ben Eckstein said Sunday that he met with Stanley, and they have acknowledged the rate is wrong — he said is working with them to fix it. At this point in the year, the ASUO hasn’t been charged the full assessment, so Eckstein suggested the remainder of the money should be added to the Over-Realized Fund.@@http://uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/ben*eckstein@@
“They have a chance to fix this,” Eckstein said. “This is money they didn’t need or expect, and the best place for it is with students.”
Eckstein said that independently of this, he has been working to lower the assessment fee for the ASUO anyway. He explained that the ASUO is almost entirely sustainable and funded by students.
“We are not an academic department,” he said. “We have our own functions that we provide, and we work directly for student interests. That way, students pay a smaller incidental fee without sacrificing a single service or program.”
As of yet, he believes he has made some strides toward lowering the fee but nothing concrete has been agreed upon. ASUO University Affairs Coordinator Manny Garcia agrees with Eckstein’s mission.@@http://uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/manny*garcia@@
“This money should be returned to students,” Garcia said. “We are already subsidizing through tuition and shouldn’t make students pay more than they need to.”
Garcia agreed that the best place for the money would be in the Over-Realized Fund, so students can benefit directly from the excess instead of paying more because of it.
ASUO Vice President Katie Taylor explained that, before the increase, the ASUO already paid more in assessments than the athletic department did, and she has been working to lessen that.@@http://uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/katie%20taylor/86042@@
“I think it is important to use the incidental fee to benefit students overall,” she said. “Every dollar should be going back to students.”
Jamie Moffitt, vice president for finance and administration, said in an email that if there is a question about the rate, it will be solved, but at this time no decisions have been made.@@http://vpfa.uoregon.edu/@@