The leaders of the many Stevens RSOs (recognized student organizations) on campus are preparing to submit their budget requests for following spring semester. Rather than following old protocol, those responsible for preparing budgets are going to be following new procedure outlined in the SGA’s most updated version of the “Budget Policy and Guidelines for Student Government Association Allotments” document, which went into effect beginning on November 1.
The newest version of the budgeting procedures document begins with a preface from the current Budget Committee: “Through these new guidelines, the SGA aims to promote: collaboration among RSOs, RSO sustainability, financial stewardship, assistance in achieving organization goals, and fair allocation of SGA resources.”
According to the updated procedures, the budgeting process works in a three-step fashion over a period of three weeks. This coming Sunday will mark the end of week one with all budgets submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday via DuckSync. Chairperson of the Committee on Student Interests Emily Noonan and Treasurer Pat MacLane will be making cuts based on budgeting guidelines throughout next week, and the SGA Senate will be making cuts with input from the RSOs at the November 15 SGA meeting. RSO leaders will have their budgets returned with both cuts on Monday, November 16.
For the first time, RSOs will be given the time to review and dispute the cuts made by both the Senate and the Budget Committee prior to the final voting meeting. RSOs have the opportunity to work with their SGA committee head, a non-senator, and their representative. MacLane hopes that the “final meeting will be significantly shorter than it was in the past as the Budget Committee will have hashed out most concerns prior to the meeting.”
Why all the changes? According to MacLane, the process has been very inefficient, with last year’s fall budgeting meeting spanning a length so great that a recess was called. “It was very clear that RSOs whose budgets were reviewed later in the meeting were being more heavily scrutinized,” said MacLane. “In part, this was likely due to the general fatigue of the senate and the pressing need to get our budget into the black.”
The updated procedures document also requires that RSOs keep track of their expenditures using the Checkbook feature in DuckSync. “This will enable the SGA to have a clear understanding of how much money is in the [Student Activity Fee] at all times to better estimate rollover and determine if RSOs are practicing good budgeting habits,” said MacLane.
The Senate understands that each RSO is unique and presents different needs based on its size and function. The Budget Committee has worked hard to alleviate the great deal of frustration for student organizations. “I am very proud of the progress we’ve made this semester with the development of the new Budget Committee and a one-stop shop document for budgeting expectations,” said MacLane. “Both [the SGA and RSOs] needed to be given clear expectations and [develop] a mutual trust and understanding.”
