The Budget Review Committee (BRC) spent more money on student programming than they received from the Student Activities Fee, but the fund remains “stable,” chairman Billy Haddad announced Thursday.
Haddad, who leads a group of 12 students that doles out money to student groups for events, told the Student Government Association (SGA) he had noticed more student groups using available funds each year since the Student Activities Fee (SAF) was implemented in 2003.
“Student programming has been on the rise as more students have access to the funds,” he said.
Last year, student groups spent $1.5 million between their regular budgets and special events like guest speakers, trips and group outings.
The SAF collects about $1.4 million annually, but Haddad said rollover dollars from past years were used to account for the extra money spent last year.
“Even though we overspent, there is enough of the excess to sustain current levels of spending for a number of years,” Haddad said.
The BRC funded 103 special requests last year which were spread over 70 student groups. Haddad said there were “not too many” requests turned down.
The top users of the fund, according to a report prepared by the BRC, included the fraternity Kappa Sigma, who used more than $80,000 for three requests, the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), who used about $50,000 for eight activities, the SGA, who also used more than $50,000 for three events and the Northeastern Bisexual Gay and Lesbian Alliance (NUBiLAGA), who used close to $40,000 for seven activities.
Other frequent users, the report said, were the Northeastern Hiking and Outing Club (NUHOC), the Arab Student Association, the campus radio station and NU ‘ Improv’d, a campus comedy group.
The expenses of one group, LASO, exemplify the wide range of activities to which funds from the fee can apply.
Last year alone, LASO used SAF funds to put on a culture show, salsa lessons and a political seminar designed to address coverage of Latin American issues in the media, said Sergio Marrero, LASO president.
The excess is the result of light spending in 2003-2004 caused by a new system for receiving funding that many student groups were unaware of, along with the cancellation of the Ludacris Springfest concert following the 2004 Super Bowl riots, Haddad said.
Last year, student groups showed a heightened understanding of the process to obtain funding for a special program, Haddad said.
The process to obtain funding beyond the initial student group budget involves a petition sent to the BRC, which is reviewed and approved by the committee before the event. The new understanding among student groups led to an increase in the number of student programs across campus.
Haddad said the petitions are given “no priority” over the others and are not evaluated based on the program’s quality.
Rather, he said, the programs are required to be accessible and beneficial to all members of the undergraduate student body.
Marrero said his group, one of the most active on campus, spent what they typically spend last year on programming. He said the new model had caused them problems because of the “formality.”
“What is harder is that you have to go through the petition process, so you have to plan events further in advance. That was hard at first, but now we’ve been able to approach activities with more foresight,” he said.
The SAF, a $104 fee included in tuition payments to help pay for student programming, is the financial base for student activities.
The BRC cannot fund transportation, food, political lobbying activities and other costs seen as fringe expenses to an event, such as photographers, penalty fees or paying employees to work at the event, according to the SAF manual.
Over the next year, Haddad said the body would probably allocate more money than they had once again.
“There is no doubt in my mind right now that we will spend at least 100 percent of what we take in,” Haddad said.
