by Lauren DiTullio, News Staff
Last Sunday, the Student Government Association (SGA) launched a new project, the mission of which can be summed up by its tagline: “It’s your money, tell us how you want to see it spent on and around campus.”
At the time of press, more than 750 people “liked” the Facebook page, titled “Having a Say in How Northeastern Tuition and Fees Are Spent.” SGA President Ryan Fox said he conceived the idea for this forum, where students have the opportunity to share their concerns and suggest changes they would like to see happen on campus.
“We thought it was a cool way to reach out and start some discussion,” Fox said. “We obviously do a lot of brainstorming and a lot of research internally, but it’s interesting to see some of the ideas that pop up.”
Some of the most widely supported ideas include adding more power outlets, or repairing old outlets, in Snell Library and Curry Student Center. Students also support campus-wide, university-provided WiFi, and the renovation of some of the older buildings on campus. Many students have used the page to discuss what they find to be wasteful spending, such as the flat-screen televisions in the International Village dining hall.
So far, a large number of students have “liked” the idea that students should be able to use their allotted meals on other students, instead of just themselves. With 58 supporters, at press time it was the most “liked” post on the page. Other ideas range from environmentally-friendly personnel vehicles for university employees, to bringing waffle fries back to the dining halls.
The Facebook page will supplement a pre-existing system that Northeastern officials have used to help determine the allocation of the university’s budget.
“There is an established process for the senior administration to receive input from the SGA on the budget priorities,” Director of Communications Renata Nyul said in an e-mail to The News. “It is great to see that the SGA is finding innovative ways to solicit input from a broad range of students.”
The process, as it is described by the “How It Works” section of the Facebook page, centers around the annual Funding Priorities Evaluation. According to the page, students will receive this survey via e-mail at the end of November. They will be asked to rank 15 to 20 different topics from highest to lowest importance.
Fox said this is the university’s fifth year using the survey, but he hopes it will be more effective in conjunction with the Facebook page.
“This way, people get to digest it beforehand,” Fox said. “When they get the e-mail, they will at least already have an idea of what their top priorities are.”
Following a series of meetings between SGA and university officials, the budget roll-out is planned to be announced in March. Fox said SGA does not control any portion of the budget directly. Rather, they help “direct” the university in their allocation of funding. For example, Fox said, if university officials say they are going to spend money on renovating classrooms, the role of SGA would be to communicate students’ opinions on which rooms need it the most.
“It’s a great process,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to justify a tuition increase when you can show people exactly what is coming out of it.”
He also noted that last year’s tuition increase was the lowest in 50 years.
Freshman SGA Senator Brendan O’Connor, who is also a member of SGA’s Student Services board, expressed confidence in the project, saying that it will help SGA “stay productive.”
“I think it’s a great thing for the student body at large,” he said. “For these top-ranking comments with 20 or more likes, that’s going to get a lot of notice from everyone, including the president, down to a regular senator like me.”
Other students expressed confidence in the page’s intention, but less faith in its practical application.
“I’d say they probably are [going to address student concerns] because they took the initiative to make the page up in the first place, so it shows that they do care,” said Brandon Gier, a freshman computer science and cognitive psychology major.
However, Gier said that the breadth and variety of the topics suggested might make it hard to focus on each student’s individual concern.
“I feel like it’ll cool down over time and then it will be a more effective way of assessing things,” he said.
Junior marketing and finance major Jay Donovan said he appreciated the chance to get involved.
“I don’t have time really to do SGA,” he said. “It’s something I’ve been interested in, but not enough to make the time commitment. This gives someone like me the opportunity to have a say, just in the few minutes that it takes me to get on Facebook.”
Donovan said he is anxious to see the results next semester to determine how much the input of students actually influenced the university’s decisions.
“I doubt every issue will be resolved or dealt with,” he said. “But I do think that they will all be brought up by the SGA.”
