The ASUO Programs Finance Committee kicked off its annual budget process Monday night, approving budgets for seven groups and denying another any money for next year.
Throughout January, the seven-member committee will divide about $2.3 million among more than 100 ASUO programs — money that comes from the incidental fee University students pay each term.
Last term, the PFC received permission to spend 3 percent more in next year’s budgets than was spent this year.
One night into the budget hearings, the PFC has allotted an average of 44 percent more.
Some of the biggest increases stemmed from the new stipend model approved by the ASUO Student Senate last year.
Following the new format, stipend amounts — the money some students receive for their work in ASUO programs — are standardized for all groups. That means similar positions in different programs will now be given the same stipend.
Although no new stipend positions will be added this year, the model had a large effect on the stipend positions already in existence. The changes more than doubled stipends for the ASUO Constitution Court justices, increasing their pay from $30 a month this year to $75 a month for next year.
On the other end of the scale, the American Institute of Architecture Students failed to appear for its budget hearing. As a result, the PFC voted not to give the group any money for next year.
The biggest contention of the night came from PFC member Aaron Weck, who thought that the constitution court should not receive $650 to pay for a clerk position that is as yet unfilled.
“It’s been here for three years and it’s never been utilized,” he said.
Chief Justice Robert Raschio, however, said that the court would need all the money to hire someone, which could prove the clerk position was worth funding.
“I’m just asking you to have a little faith in us, I guess,” he said.
In the end, the PFC showed it had faith in the court by giving it the entire $650 for the clerk position.
All groups have five business days to appeal the budgets approved for them by the PFC. The appeals process will commence after the initial PFC hearings have been completed.