The Office of the Treasurer will test Village Software to manage student finances this semester before training club leaders and giving them access to the system next semester, Student Union Treasurer Max Wallach '09 said. Former Student Union Treasurer Choon Woo Ha '08 said in May that the new software would create a single Web interface to replace a number of different systems currently used to manage student finances, improving transaction speed and accuracy.

Ha said at the end of last semester that he hoped the software would be available to clubs by fall 2008.

Wallach said Village Software will not put the system online until after Regular Marathon.

He said, "We decided it would be beneficial to have the Office of the Treasurer be kind of beta testers to make sure that it functions properly ... before we have all club leaders use it." Wallach said he is still learning how to use the new system and is not yet very familiar with it.

Ha explained in May how club funding currently requires the use of many different online and manual processes. Clubs could request money through MyBrandeis and by coming before the Finance Board.

Once clubs have been allocated money, Ha said, club leaders need to fill out appropriate paperwork for the Office of the Union Treasury, which uses software called QuickBooks to process allocations. The budget office in the Office of Students and Enrollment, the Accounts Payable Office and the Payroll Office use different software systems to account for transactions transmitted from the Treasury Office.

Village Software will create a single Web interface for all of those functions, Ha said, establishing a quicker and more accurate system. While students will still have to print and submit hard copies of some forms to the Office of the Treasurer, filling them out online will be easier, Ha said.

Wallach said that club leaders would see no visible change this semester, but financial transactions would be faster because the Office of the Treasurer will be using the new system.

In the meantime, club leaders will continue to hand in forms to the Office of the Treasury as they have done in years past, Wallach said. The Office of the Treasury will enter the information from the forms into the new system. Club leaders will not be able to access the system at all this semester.

In addition to the new software, Wallach confirmed that the new policy for F-Board-funded events that intend to charge entrances fees released last semester is in effect.

Last semester in a trial run by the Office of the Treasurer, all events funded by the F-Board had to offer free admission. Last spring, the Free Admissions Policy Review Committee established by the Union Treasury sought input from students and club leaders on the effects of that policy and issued a recommendation for changes this semester.

The committee recommended that if event attendees are not charged, the F-Board will fully fund the event provided it has enough funds available. If a club intends to charge a fee or the F-Board does not have enough funds available, it will take into consideration the expected revenue of the event when allocating funding. Clubs can charge a maximum of $3 as an entrance fee; however, if the event is raising money for charity, clubs can charge $5.

Wallach said the Treasury will observe how the recommendations from the committee play out this semester and how they affect events on campus. The Treasury and F-Board members will take feedback from club leaders and students.

The recommendation did not have much of an effect on Early Marathon, during which clubs request funds for September, because many theater groups and other clubs are not putting on events until later in the year, Wallach said.

On Sunday the Union Senate tabled the Student Union's fall operating budget proposed by Wallach, as mandated by the Union bylaws. The proposal of $26,000 foresees $1,500 for the Newspaper Program, $5,500 for Office Resources, $1,100 for the Union's election system and $1,050 for the editors of the Course Evaluation Guide. For the Executive Office, the proposal delineates $1,000 for outreach, $2,000 for the Project Support Fund, $2,000 for the Social Fund and $1,000 for officer development. The proposal provides for a Senate discretionary fund of $10,850.