Today, Wednesday, November 15, 2006, marks the official beginning of the 90-day 2007–2008 Union Budgeting process. By this process, we, the students of RPI, determine how our activity fees are utilized in the upcoming year. This unique responsibility and opportunity has been granted to us because past students have shown the Board of Trustees and the Institute that they excel at handling this tremendous task; it is my expectation that this year will be no exception. I ask that you work with the Executive Board to ensure that we consider ways to facilitate your needs and interests during your tenure on campus.
Union clubs, organizations, and teams form the major foundations of the Union. We currently recognize 178 of these groups, and about half of these organizations are designated as funded organizations. In the next month, it will be up to the student leaders and the general membership of each of these clubs to devise reasonable plans and funding requests for programs they would like to run in the next year. As members of these clubs and organizations, it is your responsibility to ensure that your leaders are aware of your expectations for the following year, and that you actively participate in this process. It is incredibly easy for officers of an organization to put forth a budget that is a carbon copy of the previous year’s budget. You must ensure, however, that this will meet your needs as club members and will allow your club to expand its membership and enrich the student life experience on our campus. Because this can be an intimidating process, the Union provides several points of contact with resources to aid our students.
Each Union-funded organization is assigned a representative from the Executive Board and a Union staff member who is designated as their Student Action Resource Planner. These individuals are charged with working closely with their clubs to ensure that their proposed budgets meet the needs of the students and the expectations of the Union. Their relationship with club officers is particularly important as they are the sole voice of the club during budgeting sessions. This means that E-Board representatives must have expert knowledge of each club’s budget, a thorough understanding of each club’s past performance, and an awareness of the directions that their clubs are aiming for in the future. You can help your clubs’ representative achieve these goals by meeting with them regularly, inviting them to club meetings, and ensuring that they are informed concerning major changes to your clubs’ plans for next year’s budgets.
At our November 7 meeting, the Executive Board completed an annual review of the Union’s budget policies and procedures with the approval of the “2007–2008 Budget Policy and Procedures.” This document has been distributed to all club officers so that they are aware of the basic rules and regulations that the Executive Board will use during budgeting for our next fiscal year. I would like to note several of the major items and changes made in the policies for next year. First, it is important to note that all clubs and organizations are required to submit a preliminary budget that has been reviewed with their representatives no later than December 1. Secondly, final budgets are due on the last scheduled day of finals—which happens to be December 20 this year. The Executive Board will hold its annual budget sessions on January 18-20, which is also the weekend of Big Red Freakout!. Budgets will be released the following week and appeals will take place January 27 and 28.
Major changes were made this year to some policies in order to better reflect the current pricing in several sections setting limits on funding certain types of programs. Though the Union, by policy, does not fund extra food expenses, each club is given food reception funds based on membership for the year. This year we have increased the semester reception funds from $1.50 per activity fee-paying student per semester to $2.50 with a total of $5 for the year. Lodging policies also saw an increase in subsidy from $85 to $125 per night, depending on the trip destination. There were several minor changes made to this document including the removal of unnecessary sections, the clarification of rules and policies, and a price increase throughout the approval guidelines for large expenditures.
This is an exciting part of the year and truly one of the fantastic opportunities that we have as a student body to make our voices heard and to establish our own goals for next year. I encourage you to take an active role in helping your clubs and organizations through this process, and as always, I welcome any questions or comments you may have throughout the year.
