The fee was raised, Jurassic 5 and Ludacris were confirmed, but the riots and the president put the “big name acts” which student leaders promised on hold, leaving $195,000 sitting in the Student Activities Fund.
In a referendum held during the end of February last year, 1,377 members of the student body voted to raise the Student Activities Fee (SAF) from $17 per quarter while in classes, to $100 paid annually, in hopes of having a well known name perform on campus. Another 1,278 students voted against raising the SAF.
Before the start of the last fiscal year, July 1, 2003, the Budget Review Committee (BRC) expected to allocate $1.35 million to student groups and programs raised mostly from the SAF. Of the $1.35 million, a projected $250,000 was budgeted to the Major Event Fund, where the money for the Springfest concert would be allocated. The BRC is planning on renaming the Major Event Fund the Major Concert Fund, allowing for more musical acts in the future.
“Five events were allocated from the Major Event Fund, two actually happened,” said Chair of the BRC Michael Benson. “Jim Bruer and Patch Adams happened, Springfest was allocated twice and John Leguizamo was also allocated but did not happen.”
Despite the increase in funding this year, a large amount of money still remains to be spent.
So far, out of the projected $590,000 budgeted for the Program Request Fund, $236,222 has been allocated to student group programming, leaving $353,778 as of March 9.
Student groups still have until the end of the fiscal year to spend the money, which gives them until June 30. Any recognized student organization can request funds if they have met a certain criteria, Benson said. Program requests are funded through another category called the Program Request Fund. The fund is budgeted after a projected $525,000 is allotted to the Student Government Association (SGA), afterHOURS, the Council for University Programs (CUP) and the Major Event Fund. Another projected $235,000 is then allocated to each of 200 plus student groups’ general operating budgets, the Student Activities Office, non media student telephones and the Media Board before the Program Request Fund is budgeted.
Money from the Program Request Fund has already been allocated to groups such as the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), SGA and the class of 2007 for events ranging from salsa lessons to having Jeff Corwin speak in the Curry Student Center.
Some students said they missed out on two major events because of the Springfest concert being canceled and John Leguizamo canceling his campus appearance.
“I have not really seen anything come out of [raising the fee] this year,” said Jennifer Tipping, a sophomore communications major. “I won’t feel that bad though if the money rolls over to next year.”
The amount of money being rolled over into the SAF the next fiscal year cannot be determined, Benson said. The amount cannot be determined because the BRC will still be allocating the estimated $350,000 left in the Program Request Fund and the estimated $200,000 left in the Major Event Fund until July 1, when the next fiscal year begins.
Although just over 20 percent of the student body voted for the increase in the SAF, other students said they are not satisfied with how their increase is being put to use.
“If they are canceling stuff, then I am not satisfied,” said Sean Dougherty, a junior architecture major. “If the activities are there then [raising the fee] is worth putting up the money.”
The estimated SAF could reach close to $2 million for next year, Benson said. The higher fund amount is attractive to student groups that wish to bring “big names” to campus next year.
“We will get Robin Williams and Ellen Degeneres, pending BRC approval,” said Chad Cooper, a member of NU ‘ Improv’d. “We have been in touch with people close to Robin Williams. We will submit the request to the BRC on July 1. NU ‘ Improv’d will be one of the top five programmers out of all the student groups on campus.”
