Plans to reform the club funding system have shifted course somewhat, primarily with the elimination of a proposed board to fund social events. Campus entertainment will continue to be planned and funded by a slightly modified Student Events, while six of the eight secured groups will lose their guaranteed funding and protected statuses.The proposal is the result of a yearlong review by Student Union officials of the current model by which student organizations are financed. The specifics of the proposal were presented to near-unanimous support at the senate meeting Sunday evening as amendments to the Union constitution. The proposal will be put before the student body April 6. Any amendments to the Union constitution require the approval of two-thirds of voting students to take effect.

"People have been to afraid to tackle [the issue] because of the power or supposed power of secured groups.," Union President Jenny Feinberg '07 said. "We've addressed the major concerns."

Nearly all student groups on campus are funded through the Student Activities Fee, which is paid by every student and is equal to one percent of gross tuition.

Under the current system, eight secured groups, including the Justice, receive approximately 62 percent of the fund, while more than 200 chartered clubs request funding from the Finance Board, which has less than $400,000 to distribute.



The Changes


Most notably, Feinberg abandoned her initial idea of a Student Programming Board, made up of representatives from major campus groups, which would have been granted about $100,000 to allocate money to other groups for events. Such a board would have taken significant control of event planning out of the hands of Student Events, the campus's primary programming group.

Although she initially said the board would increase the range of campus events by not leaving all decisions to Student Events-which has fallen under scrutiny for not incorporating sufficient student input-Feinberg said she withdrew the idea because of concerns voiced by both students and administrators that two event boards would be "cumbersome."

Union officials said they have instead started working with Student Events leadership on making event planning a more collaborative process.

Also changed in the proposal are details of an emergency fund to provide relief to secured groups in the case of one-time expenditures outside of their normal operating budgets. The Capital Expenditures Fund, which under both forms of the proposal would be monitored by the F-Board, would originally have been capped at $100,000. But after leaders of the BEMCo became concerned the fund would be unable to pay for vehicle replacement, the proposed cap was increased to $150,000. The fund would be created by siphoning off two percent of the F-Board's semesterly total, and the F-Board would have discretion to make additional deposits into the fund.



The Big Picture


From its beginnings, the reform attempt has aimed to allocate more money for chartered groups that are often under-funded, while placing more accountability on secured groups that have for years received guaranteed funding-with little oversight.

With the exception of the Union government and the Justice, secured organizations that previously only had to have their budgets approved by the Union treasurer would now have to go before the F-Board each semester to receive their SAF allocation.

Each group has been assigned a "baseline" amount, which is a recommended level of funding required for their operations. With the exception of BTV and the Waltham Group, the secured groups' baselines will be significantly lower than amount they are guaranteed under the current system. The constitutional language stipulates that the F-Board cannot deny secured groups' "reasonable operating expenses consistent with the approved purpose."

Any further costs can either be requested directly from the F-Board's general fund or from the Capital Expenditures Fund.

If secured groups spend less than their baseline amount, any remaining money would revert to the F-Board.

"We're not going to require the same stringent proof-of-cost for every item as we do now [for chartered groups]," F-Board chair Harrison Chizik '07 said. "But we're not giving $50,000 checks and saying, 'Have fun,' anymore."

Chizik attempted to assuage the fears of several secured group leaders by saying that "groups have nothing to worry about if they articulate why they need things."

Only the Justice and the Student Union would remain financially secured. The newspaper will not need to consult the F-Board to receive its funding, which will be reduced by about 25 percent under the proposal to only cover its printing. Feinberg has this measure is to protect the newspaper's journalistic independence. The newspaper should not need to have its budget approved by the government it writes about, she said. The Justice will also not have access to the Capital Expenditures Fund or any money controlled by the F-Board.

With significant cuts to the Union, WBRS, Archon, Student Events and the Justice, an additional sum of more than $100,000 would be made available to chartered groups that request F-Board money.



Student Events


Student Events, which currently receives 22.47 percent of the total fund, or about $218,000 this year, would see a cut of about 10 percent under the proposal, setting its minimum funding to about $196,000.

After both administrators and Union officials questioned the group's transparency over the last year, Director of Student Events Helen Pekker '06 said she is willing to make Student Events more open and inclusive in its planning.

To this end, the group has opened up the selection of its new director to its entire organization, instead of a closed committee, Pekker said. The group has also invited all students to hear the candidates speak, although they will not have a vote.

In the future, Student Events plans to decide positions through campuswide elections, and to add appointments of minority representatives, Pekker said.

The group's budget cut would come from money the group uses to co-sponsor events, and its ability to turn to the emergency capital fund. Some smaller programming will also be eliminated, according to the proposal.



The Archon


The Archon, the University's yearbook, currently receives 8.35 percent of the total fund, equal to about $81,000 this year. The proposal will cut the group's funding by about $25,000.

The Archon has fallen under recent scrutiny by Union officials who said some of the group's funding was unaccounted for. The 2005 Archon was only recently mailed to students late.

Rebecca Gedalius '06, the editor in chief of the Archon who is also a copy editor of the Justice, said she didn't approve of the reduction in the Archon's funding because she worried it would lead to a decline in quality of the yearbook.

"If we're being told, don't worry, you'll get your money [from the F-Board], why not just go to the treasurer?" she said.



BEMCo


BEMCo, which currently receives 3.14 percent of the total fund, or about $31,000 this year, will face a cut of $7,000 under the proposal.

Jonathan Sham '06, the group's operations officer, said he approved of the cut, but that he was "a little weary about F-Board having control of the Capital Expenditures Fund. It's the only recourse the club [would have] for capital expenses."

He said BEMCo couldn't endorse the amendment. Sham said he fears the F-Board will not be able to provide the approximately $65,000 to buy new emergency vehicles every seven to nine years.

But Feinberg said that the F-Board would have "more than enough to fund the truck."



WBRS


WBRS currently receives nearly nine percent of the total fund, about $87,000 this year. The group would see a cut of about $26,000.

The radio station's $10,000 emergency fund would no longer be needed in light of the Capital Expenditures Fund, Feinberg said. WBRS would also no longer be able to co-sponsor campus events.

The station's general manager, Julie Craghead '07, said she was pleased WBRS would no longer be responsible for numerous co-sponsorship requests.

She declined to comment on how she felt about the proposed budget cut and having to seek F-Board approval for its budget.



Waltham Group and BTV


Both the Waltham Group and BTV's baseline funding would be equal to their current allocations.

But the Waltham Group's coordinators Cassandra Shamallas '06 and Liz Steinfield '06 said they were opposed to having to go before the F-Board.

Steinfield called the increased oversight "a little bit unnecessary because it will take time away from our mission to spend our time serving the greater Waltham community."

Ari Schnitzer '07, BTV's president, said he was pleased with the recommended funding level.

"We've have achieved more parity just on the fact everyone else's funding has gone way down," he said.



The Justice and the Student Union: the lone secured groups


The Justice--which would have nearly a quarter of its current allocation reduced to cover only its printing costs--will continue to be guaranteed funding without F-Board approval. Feinberg has said she does not want to see the Justice's objectivity hindered if it were required to have its entire budget approved by a Student Union panel.

That aspect of the proposal seemed to be the most controversial at an open forum last Tuesday.

Feinberg said it was necessary to "prioritize" the oldest publication on campus. If other media outlets "can prove themselves to be as well-read and as thorough [as the Justice], they absolutely have right to be considered for secured status" in the future. She said it was much too soon to secure The Hoot, a newspaper that was founded in 2005.

Heather Zajdel '07, the editor in chief of The Hoot, said that only securing the Justice and claiming that this move is to maintain journalistic independence is "backwards logic" because securing one media group is like "an endorsement."

The Justice's editor in chief, Dan Hirschhorn '07, said the Union's plan to only cover the Justice's printing cost is "more than fair." As the only secured group that "acts as a watchdog on the government," he maintained that not guaranteeing the Justice's funding would be a "disservice to the community." He declined to comment on if The Hoot should be secured.

Of all eight groups, the Union government would face the biggest budget cut, giving up more than 40 percent of its current allocation under the proposal. This will prevent the Union from planning events such as ModFest, putting more pressure on Student Events.