The ASWC Senate voted on Sunday, February 10th to raise the ASWC student fee an additional $14 for the academic year of 2013-14. The fee, now $350 per student, was raised to adjust for inflation and an expected decrease in student body size, as well as provide more funding for club sports and allow for contributions to the Lifecycle Fund and ASWC endowment.
The ASWC Finance Committee settled on a fee of $350 after a three-and-a-half hour meeting earlier in the week. Their recommendation was eventually passed by the senate, though several senators attempted to amend resolution to raise the fee an additional $2 to $352/year.
“If you actually added [the goals for funding] up, it would $356, but we’re going to be making some hard cuts in finance committee to deal with that,” said ASWC Finance Committee Chair senior Sam Sadeghi.
Specific cuts were not mentioned during the senate meeting, and will be discussed during budgeting later in the year. However, possible suggestions for tightening the budget were mentioned.
The ASWC green fund, which holds $1,000 of funding for green initiatives, could be combined with the contingency fund to allow flexibility in spending. This year, no requests concerning the green fund have been made, and the money has no been utilized. Should the fund be eliminated, requests concerning sustainability would still be financed through the contingency fund.
Another suggestion concerning efficiency was to encourage the Whitman Events Board to be more efficient with its funding, and ensure that only events which are well-attended and appreciated by the student body take place.
Dividing the student travel and development fund into two separate funds, one for development on campus and one for travel, could also help ASWC save money.
Sophomore senator Tatiana Kaehler suggested giving the finance committee greater control over club budgets, so that funds are allocated as they are needed rather than granted as a lump sum at the start of each year.
Club Director Nick Chow raised concerns about the need for additional contributions to the lifecycle fund, which maintains equipment and technology used by ASWC and the campus media organizations, and the ASWC endowment. According to Chow, these funds have been neglected for the last three years. The finance committee aims to contribute $10,000-15,000 to the lifecycle fund and $5,000-$10,000 to the endowment, but Chow felt this was not sufficient, as an unexpected emergency could lead ASWC to fall back on the already-stressed funds.
Senior senator Fernando Medina encouraged raising the fee in order to provide scholarships for ASWC senators, so that financially pressed students could run for office. First-year senator Allison Kelly spoke in favor of raising the fee in order to provide ample funding for clubs and activities on campus.
The amendment to raise the fee to $352 failed, with five senators voting to raise the fee and ten voting against. Three senators were absent, and counted as abstaining. The senate then voted on the finance committee’s original proposal, which passed with fourteen voting in favor and one against.
“I thought [the fee] should be raised more to be allocated to developing student life, clubs, and conferences,” said Kelly, who voted against the final proposal. “I respect everything the finance committee does, they have a very hard job, and that the number they did come to is very reasonable.”
