After a painstaking year for the ASSU Undergraduate Senate Appropriations Committee, student groups and financial officers, their financial woes could be nearing an end.
That was the word from Matt McLaughlin, the ASSU financial manager, at the Senate meeting Tuesday, where he said based on preliminary calculations, special fees for students next year could drop to $116 per quarter from $119 if all special fee groups are approved on the ballot April 8 and 9.
Appropriations Chair Anton Zietsman ’12 said the projected reduction would be a success for the committee, students and groups alike, suggesting that with slightly lower special fees, requests for refunds could be expected to decrease. With fewer refunds, Zietsman said, valuable dollars requested by special fees groups would be better safeguarded.
Lower special fees and a reduced refund rate would mark progress on two goals Appropriations Committee members set out to fulfill — but the full impact of a $3 per quarter drop in special fees remains to be seen.
“It’s not a long term solution, but it worked in the short run,” McLaughlin said of this year’s Appropriations initiatives.
McLaughlin said this quarter’s refund rate is projected to be lower than the previous two quarters this year; however, until the filing for refund closes at the end of this week, it remains too soon to tell exactly what those numbers will be.
“Even if [the refund rate] stabilizes, I’m willing to call that a success, given the fact that there were predicted to be over twenty percent for spring quarter,” Zietsman said. “So, I think that we’ve accomplished what we set out to do this year.”
According to McLaughlin, the refund rate for the past two quarters significantly exceeded the buffer fund initially formed to buoy groups hit hard by refund requests.
Last quarter, the amount refunded reached $115,000, while the buffer fund is only equipped to shell out $70,000 per quarter. The projected dip in refund requests could be attributed to the shortened time allotted to file requests, which was cut from three weeks earlier this year.
As of last night, refund requests for undergraduates rested at $77,000, a significant decrease from last quarter.
In an interview with The Daily, Zietsman argued that criticism about Appropriations is too “near-sighted” an approach to the funding process.
“Groups are better off by us appropriating less and decreasing the refund rate than by appropriating more and having the refund rate increase,” he said.
Although the Appropriations Committee has been under fire in the past months as it made funding recommendations at rates called too low by some student groups — 33 percent in fall and winter quarters — the rate has continued to increase and now sits at 48 percent, while the body remains under budget.
McLaughlin also revealed a plan for SSE Labs, a project that would provide free office space to student entrepreneurs through the summer to relieve those students of added financial burden. Spots would be reserved for entrepreneurial students to develop Internet-based applications and be funded by outside donors. McLaughlin will meet with administrators today to pitch the idea.
In response to pressure from the Graduate Student Council (GSC) for equal representation in joint special fees meetings, Zietsman and Administration and Rules Chair Alex Katz ’12 are drafting legislation to set equal voting procedures for the two bodies and alternating chairs for these meetings.
All funding bills were unanimously passed at last night’s meeting.