The need for improvement due to the changing campus environment is clear. The Executive Board has identified our core competency, which can best be described as the hub for academic and group work outside of the classroom, and the cultural and social center of campus during the weekends. It is this versatility that makes us both effective and unique. There are three main areas in which the E-Board has decided that the Union must improve upon to continue to offer students the very best platform to excel at Rensselaer: services, physical facilities and infrastructure, and management and fiscal health. We intend to build on all of this while keeping our mission for the year in mind: maximize the utility of every activity fee dollar, make decisions based on priorities, and build on our core competencies as a student-led Union.
Three areas exist where we can stand to improve as a Union. The first of these is the Rathskeller food service area, with designs for renovation compiled and final approval pending, followed by both the McNeil Room food service area and the games area. Due to the mutually beneficial relationship developed with Sodexho, we have been able to secure outside funding for both food service location upgrades. The games area presents an entirely new set of challenges because we are presented not only with the task of renovating the aging area, but the more important questions of what exactly we should use the space for. The aim of the E-Board for this academic year will be to begin the planning process with the goal of designing and funding the project before the end of next semester.
Last year, the E-Board made a landmark accomplishment by halting budget increases through focusing on campus contribution, active membership, and how each and every club fit into the purpose of the Union. This was only achieved through disciplined decision-making, and we will expand upon that this year by attempting to offer E-Board members better information to assess clubs. For the first time E-Board members will have data that will allow them to compare trends across clubs such as subsidy per student and out of pocket expense per student ratios. Through these ratios, we will be able to identify over-funded as well as under-funded clubs, in order to create a more equitable, objective budgeting process. We will also go into the budgeting process with the end goal of a flat activity fee, as to remain fiscally responsible as a board.
These are truly ambitious goals set forth by a group of your peers. While ambitious in nature, they are simply necessary in order to continue to fulfill our purpose to the standards expected at Rensselaer. With change will come some adversity, but we shall stand firm in our task to provide the most exceptional Union—in facility and function—that that we owe to each and every activity fee-paying student.
