The Leadership Committee of the Undergraduate Senate held a late-night meeting April 9 to approve the 2007-2008 school year budget allocations.
The committee heard a presentation on the budget recommended by SG Comptroller Robert Donigian, a senior in the Kogod School of Business.
The total budget amounts to $558,000, which is split among 25 different accounts.
When considering the budget, Donigian said he first thinks "of what the department is asking for, [and] if that sounds reasonable and logical, then that's what they'll get. Then, I look back at this past year and look at how the department has worked so far."
Overall, the budget the Leadership Committee approved was similar to that of Donigian's original. The largest change the Leadership Committee made from Donigian's proposal was taking $3,000 from the $150,000 allocation for the Kennedy Political Union and $1,000 from the $20,000 allocation for the Women's Initiative and dispersing the funds throughout the SG, most specifically to the class councils and toward the activity budgets for Eagle Nights, Spring Fling and Artemas Ward Week.
Money was taken away from KPU because the organization has had a history of successful events through co-sponsorship. The deduction was also justified because $3,000 from KPU would mean less than a few hundred dollar increases to smaller clubs who would receive the money. For the bigger organizations, particularly SUB and KPU, increases or decreases would only be significant in the tens of thousands of dollars due to the expensive nature of their respective programming.
Peter Wahlberg, a senator for the College of Arts and Sciences, said KPU and Women's Initiative have other options if they need the money taken away at a later time.
"They can always come to the Senate [for more money] and get it," he said.
As an illustration of the possible available funding, this past March, KPU asked the Senate for extra funding for its end of the year event, which the Senate approved.
At the meeting, it was stated that if a group is not pleased with the amount allocated, it has the option of asking the Senate for more money to fund a specific event. Groups can also choose to co-sponsor events or fundraise to increase their funding.
The budget agreed on by the Leadership Committee is available at ausg.org. The full Senate will consider the budget at its meeting, tentatively scheduled for Sunday, April 15, at 2:30 p.m. in Kogod 118.
