Spring Break
Committee To Examine Group Funding
Aly Shea
Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: News
The Student Fee Advisory Committee will continue to hear department requests for budget increases on Tuesday. Depending on what the Committee decides, the meetings could lead to an increased student fee.
The committee is charged with listening to presentations from more than 30 organizations affecting student fees at Storrs and the regional campuses. The hearing process started Feb. 11 with a public forum and continued through Feb. 13 and 15 with sessions addressing regional campus fees.
The hearings this Tuesday, which will take place from 1 p.m. until 7:15 in room 331 of the Student Union are only the fourth part of five. Many student groups including the campus media organizations, USG and SUBOG will present their fee requests March 4.
All presentations end in a period reserved for public comment. So far, according to Assistant Vice-President for Student Affairs and Committee Chairman David Clokey, it hasn't been well-attended though.
"There must not be a burning issue as far as students are concerned," he said.
At the meetings, the departments and offices can ask for portions of money from the General University Fund, which Dean of Students and second-year committee member Lee Williams described as a "big pool of money from which offices and departments are funded." The GUF is more general than Student Activity fees, which are more specific.
Clokey said the Student Activity Fees are supported in accordance with state statutes.
"We collect money on behalf of the organizations, but they're the ones who determine how it's spent, so long as it follows state statutes," he said.
According to the documents, Student Health Services is requesting an increase "over and above the standard university operating increases" for the first time in nearly two decades. The $1.47 million they are requesting from the GUF is to alleviate understaffing in the summer, make competitive salary adjustments and hire an IT person to implement electronic medical records. They also hope to use that money to bring Counseling and Mental Health Services' staffing levels up to national standards.
The committee is charged with listening to presentations from more than 30 organizations affecting student fees at Storrs and the regional campuses. The hearing process started Feb. 11 with a public forum and continued through Feb. 13 and 15 with sessions addressing regional campus fees.
The hearings this Tuesday, which will take place from 1 p.m. until 7:15 in room 331 of the Student Union are only the fourth part of five. Many student groups including the campus media organizations, USG and SUBOG will present their fee requests March 4.
All presentations end in a period reserved for public comment. So far, according to Assistant Vice-President for Student Affairs and Committee Chairman David Clokey, it hasn't been well-attended though.
"There must not be a burning issue as far as students are concerned," he said.
At the meetings, the departments and offices can ask for portions of money from the General University Fund, which Dean of Students and second-year committee member Lee Williams described as a "big pool of money from which offices and departments are funded." The GUF is more general than Student Activity fees, which are more specific.
Clokey said the Student Activity Fees are supported in accordance with state statutes.
"We collect money on behalf of the organizations, but they're the ones who determine how it's spent, so long as it follows state statutes," he said.
According to the documents, Student Health Services is requesting an increase "over and above the standard university operating increases" for the first time in nearly two decades. The $1.47 million they are requesting from the GUF is to alleviate understaffing in the summer, make competitive salary adjustments and hire an IT person to implement electronic medical records. They also hope to use that money to bring Counseling and Mental Health Services' staffing levels up to national standards.
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