12 hours. 3 meals. 87 student organizations. One $140,000 deficit. If there is a narrative that can be drawn throughout the semesterly budget meeting held on November 18, it is one of excess. From the very first budget discussed, the meeting was behind schedule, hot in temper, and financially in the red. Budget by budget, organization by organization, line item by line item, and cut by cut, the committee whittled down the most extravagant hopes and desires of Stevens’ student clubs into something that, with a little luck and a handful of rollovers, just might fit into the semesterly operating budget for next semester.
The meeting, hosted by the Student Government Association (SGA) Senate Budget Committee, was held in Burchard 118. The Budget Committee holds these meetings near the end of every semester to debate and approve the budget requests of student organizations. Besides submitting Additional Funding Requests (AFRs) during the semester, the semesterly budgets approved during this meeting are the primary method through which most clubs and other student organizations acquire funding for their planned events and operations.
The doors to the meeting opened at 8:30 a.m. and the first organization, Korean Student Association, was scheduled for 9:00 a.m.
The meeting began with a very large budget deficit, with a deficit of over $140,000. Because of this, the committee established several “daily rules” that were not enshrined in budgetary policy, but that the committee would follow objectively during the meeting. These rules included no clothing, no estimated speaker fees, no general prop budgets, and a limit of $50 on sticker purchases. Organizations were permitted to request speaker budgets if they had an exact quote, and props if they had itemized lists; however, many of these were cut regardless, such as the two props requested by SITTV totaling $38.89.
The committee briefly debated cutting the entire printing budget of The Stute, but ultimately decided to allow the campus newspaper to continue printing newspapers.
The Budget Committee at this meeting was the largest budget committee in recent memory. Excluding subcommittee heads (who have ex officio voting privileges during the semesterly budget meetings) and Cabinet members, there were seven members of the Budget Committee present during the meeting. Many of these members were added to the committee this semester, making this their first semesterly budget meeting.
Several organizations had major cuts to their budget. Alpha Phi Omega received 0% of their requested budget, with both of their requested events cut in their entirety. Gear & Triangle also had their budget cut to $0 after the representative from G&T told the committee that if they didn’t approve their budget, they could find the funds elsewhere. WCPR received 0.63% of their requested budget, with their semesterly concert cut and only GBM food remaining. SITTV received 46.16% of their requested budget after the committee reopened their budget request at the end of the meeting and made additional cuts. Other large cuts included Anime Club, who received 43.7% of their requested budget; Colleges Against Cancer, who received 59.67% of their requested budget; the Chinese Student Association (CSA), who received 25.35% of their requested budget; the Filipino Association of Stevens Tech (FAST), who received 29.67% of their requested budget; and the Honor Board, who received 20.4% of their requested budget.
Organizations who wish to dispute subjective cuts made during the budget meeting can do so provided they alert Picone 48 hours prior to the dispute, which will occur during the SGA senate meeting on Sunday, December 2, in Babbio 122.
A lot of questions were raised during the budget meeting about club sports. Committee members mentioned that based on their own personal experiences with club sports, the $72,000 budget that the SGA is required by Student Life to give club sports every semester doesn’t seem like it reaches any of the students in the club sports. One subcommittee head stated that she worked on fundraising events for one of the club sports and never saw any money from the club sports budget reach her events. Van Deursen said that John Maurizi, Director of Campus Recreation, has previously stated that if any student asks to see his budget he’ll show it to them, but that when Van Deursen asked for it, Maurizi did not deliver. It was mentioned that a club sports budget committee was recently established, but it was unclear how selection for this committee occurred and its operations were not public. Many committee members said that the club sports budget should be audited, but it was not clear how that could occur.
Van Deursen, at one point, loudly stated, “This is a massive f**king incestuous pile of sh*t. You can quote me on that.”
The budget meeting adjourned at 9:12 p.m., over 12 hours after it opened. Ultimately, the budget deficit was reduced to less than $20,000. Vice President of Finance Anthony Picone said that he was comfortable with this number, as the operating budget for next semester will increase as rollover requests are submitted and some funds go unspent.
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