Correction Appended
The Undergraduate Senate allocated more than $619,920 to student government departments and organizations for the next school year.
The Student Government distributed $594,400 in last year’s budget. The raise is due to increased enrollment, according to current SG Comptroller Ed Levandoski.
Student Activities decided to allocate more money to the SG, Media Board and the AU Club Council, according to an e-mail from Andrew Toczydlowski, the Student Activities coordinator of governance and leadership.
Of the $73.50 collected from each undergraduate each semester, $52.92 is given to the SG, according to Toczydlowski.
The College of Arts and Sciences School Council and the Arts Council were not given any funds for next year because they didn’t request any, according to Senator for the Class of 2012 Bart Thompson, a member of the Budget Committee.
“The councils don’t operate,” Thompson said.
The Class of 2012 also received less than half of what was given to last year’s junior class, which “reflects a change in the philosophy for the budget,” Thompson said, adding that the budget committee felt it was inappropriate to bail out rising senior councils when they had not adequately fundraised throughout previous years.
“None of the class councils do anything until they become seniors,” he said. “We didn’t want to reward that.”
The Class of 2012 hopes to build a statue of suffragist Alice Paul, a Washington College of Law and AU graduate, to dedicate the 100th anniversary of her arrival to D.C. The statue will cost about $45,000, according to the class’s budget proposal.
Kennedy Political Union received $8,700 more than last year. Speaker fees and general events costs rise every year, according to KPU Director Josh Levitt.
“You need to have a budget that reflects that,” Levitt said.
KPU spent 92 percent of this year’s funds on speaker fees, according to KPU’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year.
The Student Union Board was given $5,000 more for the same reasons, according to Special Committee on the Budget Chairman and Class of 2013 Senator Taylor Yeates. Yeates is also the comptroller-elect for next year.
Women’s Initiative was given $7,000 more this year, and the American University Transportation Organization (AUTO) received about the same amount as last year.
In future years, AUTO will not require as much money because it won’t need to buy additional vans, according to AUTO Commissioner Dave Paddock’s budget proposal. AUTO plans to buy two vans with this year’s funds.
The next fiscal year begins May 1, Levandoski said.
Fees paid by graduate students do not go toward the undergraduate Student Government.
The Budget
KPU: $183,200 SUB: $180,000 Student Government Payroll: $75,250 Founders’ Week: $49,200 Women’s Initiative: $29,000 Department of Outreach, Publicity and Recruitment: $17,000 SG General: $15,320 Department of Events: $14,500 AUTO: $14,000 Capital Maintenance: $9,000 Vice President General: $8,300 Travel Subsidy: $6,000 Class of 2012: $5,000 School of International Service Class Council: $2,600 Bike Lending: $2,500 Undergraduate Business Association: $2,450 Student Advocacy Center: $2,000 Community Service Coalition: $1,200 School of Communication Class Council: $900 School of Public Affairs Class Council: $750 Class of 2015: $500 Class of 2014: $500 Class of 2013: $500 Senate Discretionary Fund: $250 College of Arts and Sciences Class Council: $0 Arts Council: $0
Staff writer Marie Zoglo contributed to this report.
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