ASUO Programs Finance Committee members continued with business as usual last week, despite discovering they had more than a half million dollars less to give out to student groups than they had originally budgeted for.
In November, ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton accidentally calculated the cost of some programs for one term instead of three — making the groups appear to cost about $536,000 less than they actually did. PFC used that figure to set the entire programs budget.
Now, PFC must recall, and possibly cut, many student groups’ budgets that have already been approved for next year. After regular budget hearings Tuesday, PFC will decide which budgets to recall.
PFC chairwoman Mary Elizabeth Madden said while the committee has been more cautious about giving large increases since learning about the error, that doesn’t mean the PFC won’t give more money to groups that need it.
“We’re not going to stop giving increases to groups that deserve them,” she said.
During last week’s hearings, 14 of 16 groups that submitted budgets received increases, ranging from less than one percent to more than 200 percent.
The Asian-Pacific American Law Student Association and the Hawaii Club received the largest increases. PFC more than tripled APALSA’s budget, raising it from $735 for 2001-02 to $2,223 for 2002-03. Madden said a significant portion of the APALSA increase was allocated to create a new stipend position.
PFC set the Hawaii Club’s 2002-03 budget at $7,073 — a 43.76 percent increase. Madden said PFC gave the Hawaii Club an increase largely to give the group additional funding for its annual luau held at McArthur Court.
Another large increase went to Programs and Assessments, a budget that includes ASUO administrative staff and other programs’ administrations costs. PFC increased the P & A budget from $105,422 to $143,087 to cover a variety of expenses, including the creation of a new accounting coordinator position and salary increases for ASUO controllers, Madden said.
Only two groups — the American Institute of Architecture Students and the Student Bar Association — received decreases. Both were less than 10 percent.
PFC defunded several groups scheduled to have hearings last week for failure to submit a budget. Some of these groups, such as the Returning Students Association, plan to submit an appeal for a new hearing date, Madden said.
On Thursday night, PFC members voted to hear appeals from MEChA and the Warsaw Sports Marketing Club. MEChA is appealing PFC’s decision to cut money from its multicultural line item.
The Warsaw Sports Marketing Club failed to submit a budget on its original hearing date. In a letter, members said they did not know when their hearing was because of a miscommunication between the group and an ASUO controller.
PFC voted against hearing an appeal by the Korean Student Association, which had its budget cut by nearly 40 percent for 2002-03. PFC members said they could not reconsider the group’s budget because of large budget rollovers from last year.
On Tuesday, PFC will hold budget hearings for Project Saferide and Night Ride at 5 p.m. and the Oregon Commentator at 6 p.m. MEChA’s appeal is scheduled to be heard at 7 p.m., and Warsaw Sports Marketing’s appeal is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Following those hearings and appeals, PFC will decide which budgets to recall.