It’s that time of the year again. The snow is starting to slowly fade away, the first round of tests is over, and mid-terms are right around the corner. Spring break is in sight. And, of course, next year’s Union activity fee is announced. This past Monday evening, after months of preparation by the members of the Fiscal Policy Sub-Committee, a group made up of members of both the Union Executive Board and the Student Senate, the approved Union Annual Report. Included in the Union Annual Report is the activity fee for next year. I am very happy to announce that it has been approved at $533.50 for undergraduates and $290.50 for graduates, an increase of just 0.95 percent and 3.75 percent, respectively.
In case you are unfamiliar with what makes up the activity fee, I will briefly go over it. The activity fee is made up of many expenses and income lines. Expenses come in the form of the club subsidy, the fund that all of our clubs on campus operate from; athletics, which includes varsity inter-collegiate athletics along with intramurals; administrations costs; and the Mueller Center. The activity fee is offset by lines of income, which include the Rensselaer Union Bookstore, food services in the Rensselaer Union, and other vendors, such as HSBC Bank. Every year each one of these organizations submits a budget at the end of the fall semester for review by the E-Board. Then, the Board meets for an entire weekend to review the budgets, line by line, to ensure fiscal responsibility.
Much of the success of the activity fee was due to the strength of the E-Board. This year, I was fortunate enough not only to have a full board, but to have one made up of some of the highest-quality people that I have ever met. We were able to work through the budgeting process so efficiently that we actually finished in two days instead of the average three. In addition, we were able to lower the club subsidy by about 3 percent. This was done not by reducing the amount of activities that we allowed clubs to do, but by realistically evaluating the needs of every single program. This ensured that all budgeted numbers were a realistic representation of what a program actually costs. In fact, clubs had few complaints about their approved budget, as evidenced by the minimal number of budget appeals. The E-Board truly did a fantastic budgeting job this year.
Overall, the increases to the undergraduate and graduate activity fee for the 2010 fiscal year are very small. In fact, the 0.95 percent increase in the undergraduate fee­—which is the monetary equivalent to about two slices of pizza—is the lowest increase in recent history. With over 15 new clubs since last year and no signs of slowing down, the Union finds itself in great financial shape during exciting times. It has been my distinct pleasure to lead this budgeting process for one of the only student-run student unions in the country, and I look forward to its continued success.
