Cavalier Daily Staff Writers
Contracted Independent Organizations did not use about $130,000 in Student Activity Fee allocations this year and the money will now be recycled to the next appropriations process.
The $130,000 is "about 20 percent of the total amount of allocations-up considerably from past years," Student Activities Business Manager William Hancher said.
"The previous five years the average return was 11.3 percent," Hancher said.
The unused funds will earn interest and this money will be used for next year's allocations, he said.
"The money stays in this account. It doesn't go to [back to the state] or anything," he added.
In April the Student Council Appropriations Committee allocated $484,334 to 166 CIOs after receiving requests from groups totaling $721,066.08.
The returned money comes from the April 1998 appropriations process, through which 172 CIOs received $436,724.
The 1993-94 returns totaled $39,756, the lowest in the last five years, said H. Sam Miller, assistant to the vice president for student affairs.
The 1995-96 year saw a $76,275 return, but the $130,000 return is "unprecedented," Miller said.
Council Chief Financial Officer John Finley said about $20,000 of the returned funds came from Council's budget.
Finley said many of the items Council had budgeted for were not necessary.
"There were a lot of things in last year's budget they didn't need to spend the money on anyway," he said.
He added he was concerned that many other groups also request unnecessary funds.
"It worries me that groups don't spend all the money they are allocated," Finley said. "It leads me to believe that many groups inflate their budgets."
Jamey Thompson, Council vice president for organizations, said the large sum of returned money should not affect the Committee's allocation decisions next year.
"The goal of the appropriations process is to objectively assess the financial need of CIOs and to fund them accordingly using the limited resources of the SAF," Thompson said. "That goal should not be compromised be there more than enough money or not enough-the same practices should be used in all situations."
But Black Student Alliance Co-President Kazz Pinkard said he felt it was unfair that some groups did not receive the total allocation requested if there were returned funds.
The BSA "spent all [the allocation]. We needed more," Pinkard said. "I think they should assess whether or not groups are spending what they ask for. It becomes kind of unfair."
Miller said he thought there were two reasons why groups did not spend all of their allocation.
"I think it's a combination of groups waiting later [in the year] to do activities" and then they run out of time for them, he said. "And many groups also don't have strong advisors and this is reflected in the fact they can't get organized to spend" all their funding.
"The number of groups not even spending their funding may be going up and this fall the Appropriations Committee can take a look and find out why these things are happening," he added.
Thompson said he thought the surplus comes from failed programming efforts and poor leadership.
"Hopefully in the future organizations will work harder to carry out all their planned activities," Thompson said.
While in the past the Committee has been required to make budget cuts after completing all allocations due to insufficient funding, this year that will not be necessary, Finley said.
"There will not be cuts for the first time in several years," he said. The returned funds "give us a little bit of a cushion."
The elimination of the fall appropriations process will also ease the former strain on the SAF fund. Council voted Feb. 2 to abolish the process-pushing all allocations to the spring.
The slashing of Council's summer budget by over 40 percent will also free more funds.
Read More
MLK III to focus on youth participation in politics as professor of practice
By Ford McCracken | 10 hours agoRestrictive voting laws are only one problem with voting today, according to King — the other is voter apathy. King even called the level of voter participation in U.S. elections “abysmal.”
New School of Data Science building opens with remarks and ceremony
By Cecilia Mould | YesterdayThe four-story, 61,000 square-foot building includes four classrooms and two seminar rooms, as well as a two-story central hub for hosting events.
Democratic Futures Project fellow Félix Maradiaga announces campaign to end arbitrary detention
By Caroline Hagood | YesterdayA public website for the campaign launched Friday, which Maradiaga says is the first step towards raising awareness.
