Portland State’s student fee committee met July 17 to discuss the budget for the student life director, a new position within the Associated Students of Portland State University. They also met to train two new committee members, Nhi Vu and Cindy Reyes.
Portland State’s student fee committee met July 17 to discuss the budget for the student life director, a new position within the Associated Students of Portland State University. They also met to train two new committee members, Nhi Vu and Cindy Reyes.
The SFC is in charge of the roughly $14 million in incidental fees that are collected from students along with tuition. The committee prepares a budget with these funds and then passes it along to the university president for approval. Most recently the committee has been at odds with administration for attempting to cut athletics funding.
The July 17 meeting was primarily concerned with how to budget a new position created with the recent revision of the ASPSU constitution. The SFC agreed to give Ellie McConnell, director of student life, a budget of $5,000 this fall to be used for her committee’s activities.
At the meeting, some of McConnell’s duties were highlighted: She will be in charge of community-oriented events put on by ASPSU, along with other duties that have not yet been determined. “I am waiting for the fall, when I will have a committee of senators and interns to finalize the vision for my position,” McConnell said at the meeting.
She will have four ASPSU senators working under her.
The first events McConnell will be assisting with are Viking Days, including catered tours of the ASPSU office where students can learn about student government.
Other projects named by McConnell include assisting student groups and recreation clubs with process difficulties, targeted outreach to nontraditional students throughout the year and a committee that talks to other committees.
McConnell said that she has experience planning events, as she is a member of Phi Sigma Sigma sorority and current president of the PSU Greek Council. ASPSU directors spend approximately 20 hours a week in the office, although McConnell pointed out that more hours are often put in during events.
The SFC has eight members and meets until the end of its term in May. Nick Rowe, chairman of the committee, said that the university president usually accepts their budget recommendations.
$5,000 for events in ONE term? Pretty sure the programming board doesn’t use that much each term, and they put on multiple large-scale events. Budget smarter not harder.
While the total budget of the Programming Board is not listed as a single line item, in the SALP budget, they coordinate programming for a number of activities/events (like the Midnight Breakfasts) that are listed as line items. When you sum these line items, the annual budget of Programming Board events is in excess of $30,000 (FY13).
Regards,
Nick Rowe
SFC Chair