Admin. deducts $40K from SAF club funding
After the administration did not bill students an additional $12 supposedly dictated by the recent Union financial amendment to pay Senate's financial advisor, $40,000 was used from the Student Activities Fee (SAF), leaving campus organizations less money to finance their needs than last semester.Assistant Vice President for Students and Enrollment Brian Walton said the amendment - which was supposed to charge students an extra $12 for the Union's administrative assistant Loretta Shagoury - passed too late to go into effect for spring billing.
"There was a dispute about the amendment in mid-November," Walton said. "By the time it went through the UJ case, spring billing, which happens in November, had already been done."
Union President Joshua Brandfon '05 said plans were made last spring with Walton and Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy to ensure the money to pay Shagoury would be available through the extra billing to students.
"The administration approved all the wording in the administrative service agreement that says they will bill students to pay for the $40,000 for Loretta," Brandfon said. "It was made last spring with Jean Eddy and Brian Walton and an attorney."
According to Union Secretary Danny Silverman and Walton, the Archon will receive $3,340 , BEMCo $1,256 , BTV $748 less, the Justice $2,400 less, Student Events $8,988 less, Student Union $18, 932 less, Waltham Group $716 less and WBRS $3, 588 less. While the Union expressed concerns over clubs needing this money, Walton and other administrators felt they could not re-bill parents.
"The Student Union would like us to go back (and bill parents), but Jean Eddy, (Dean of Student Life), Rick Sawyer, and myself decided students and parents would not want that and we have to give them time to pay the bill," Walton said.
Student Union Treasurer, Andrei Khots '05 said he discovered the money was missing when reviewing the amount of money collected in the SAF, which is divided among seven different clubs and the student government.
"The issue that came up was when I received the amount given to me by Brian Walton, I noticed that SAF groups were receiving less money than they had the fall semester," Khots said. "The differences were more than minor."
When he asked Walton how he had arrived at the lower amount, Khots said he was told the SAF fee was calculated by $145 times the amount of students.
"I immediately realized there was less money in SAF than there should be," Khots said. "Then Brian told me that 40,000 was deducted from the SAF pool from the top. I realized that the $40,000 was taken to pay our administrative assistant."
Khots said he was surprised at the finding and spoke to the Student Union Executive Office - Brandfon, Secretary Danny Silverman '05 and Executive Assistant for Union Affairs Adam Herman '05, to see what could be done to rectify the situation.
"The $40,000, as the student union has assumed, (was supposed to be) covered by the (Student Government Administrative Fee) SGAF fee," Khots said. "The Student Activities fee is composed of Union activities fee, equal to one percent of activities of University Tuition. The Second is SGAF and that amount - it shall exist to fund the student union administrative assistant."
This year, the SGAF - which is separate from the SAF and is used to pay Shagoury - consists of $40,000, but next year, that fee will be, according to Khots and Brandfon, discussed with the University and brought to the Senate for approval.
"The fact that the University did not bill the students the additional fee means that there is 40,0000 less for all SAF groups and Student Union Government," Khots said. "Various groups, such as BEMCo, would have definitely been able to put this money to really good use and I feel that the mistake not made on the part of the students should not have such negative repercussions on our student clubs and organizations."
Walton said only the Union, not specific organizations that receive SAF money, have expressed concerns.
"I have only heard complaints about the clubs having less money from the Student Union, not clubs," Walton said. "If a club had problems though, there isn't $40,000 just lying around to give them."
BEMCo director, Marc Kolpon said the group has not been affected as of yet, but wants the situation looked into to ensure BEMCo can afford supplies and continue to provide good care. Both Brandfon and Silverman worry this will become a problem and insist the fault lies with the administration, not the Union.
"After the amendment passed, the administration never added the amount and refused to correct their mistake," Silverman said.
The extra $12 will be billed to students starting next semester.
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