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Unused student fees end in USAC surplus

By Flavia Casas

Oct. 7, 2010 1:40 a.m.

Last year, out of an estimated $4 million budget for the Undergraduate Students Association Council, $1 million was left unspent.

This sizeable pot of unused funds is an annual issue, said Financial Supports Commissioner Rustom Z. Birdie.

The money, which comes directly from student fees, is intended to be spent on funding for student groups, USAC organizations, academic affairs and other student services.

Student groups can apply for USAC funding by filling out an application in which they account in detail for everything they request, said Stephanie Lucas, internal vice president for USAC.
Yet it still remains unclear why USAC ends up with hundreds of thousands of dollars in surplus funding, as well as where all this money ends up.

Lucas and Birdie agreed the main reason the council has so much extra cash at the end of the year is that many groups, especially fraternities and sororities, do not apply for contingency funding ““ mainly because they are unaware of their access to it. Contingency funding is money a group anticipates it will need to fund future events or activities.

“Greek houses are also registered student groups on campus,” Birdie said. “They do apply for funding, but they’re an overwhelming minority when it comes to applying.”

Pi Kappa Phi is one of the few Greek organizations that takes advantage of the available funding. Last year, the fraternity used the money to help pay for retreats, recruitment and philanthropy events. The group’s annual Acoustic Coffee House event, which is a talent showcase of acoustic acts that hands out individual awards, benefited from USAC funding, said Matthew King, Pi Kappa Phi president.

In addition, Birdie said deciding how much to allocate to each group at different times throughout the year is not an easy process.

“If we give (student groups) all the money they ask for in the fall, what happens when other groups come in winter and spring asking for money and we don’t have any?” Birdie said.
Birdie added that there must be enough money throughout the year for everyone; yet at the end of the year, the council wants to ensure that the money does not go unused.

USAC puts unused funds toward other programs, events or departments that are in need of extra cash, Lucas said.

The budget does, however, have an expiration date, she added. Any surplus funding still intact after three years becomes inactive, something that is not uncommon. Birdie and Lucas said they do not know what happens to funds that become inactive.

Last year, the budget’s extra dollars were used to reinstate Night Powell and Academic Success Workshops in Covel Commons, two programs that had been eliminated from UCLA as a result of the budget cuts. USAC used $25,000 to reopen Night Powell last year, and Lucas said approximately $20,000 was spent to save Covel workshops.

This year, surplus funding was used to help finance Bruin Bash, the Enormous Activities Fair and the textbook scholarship, which grants recipients $250 to pay for textbooks, Birdie said.
But despite the comfort of having a “rainy day fund,” as Birdie put it, the portion of student fees allotted to USAC is meant to be spent on student groups and services.

“Surplus should exist,” Lucas said, “But it should mainly derive from auxiliary sources other than contingency. I’d like it to be a smaller amount so other groups are more involved.”

However, it is difficult to shrink surplus funds when student groups remain unaware of the funds available to them.

“We never knew and we weren’t made aware,” said Nathan McCurley, recruitment chairman for Beta Theta Pi.

Milagros Villalobos, co-president of Amnesty International and chief of staff for Model United Nations at UCLA, also commented on USAC’s previously weak attempts to inform student groups about available funding.

“The information has to be readily available because how are we supposed to apply for something if we don’t know where to find them or what to do?” Villalobos said.

Lucas also commented on previous councils’ failure to provide student groups with information.

“I feel that (student groups) can’t be held accountable for not applying because USAC has never reached out to them,” Lucas said.

As a result, Lucas and Birdie will be holding a series of awareness informational funding workshops throughout the year. Birdie said they plan to hold at least two workshops a quarter, each catering to a specific type of student group. Lucas, however, has high hopes for hosting more.

The first in these series of workshops was held Wednesday night in the Ackerman Second Floor Lounge. Designed specifically for fraternities and sororities, the workshop was intended to provide knowledge on how to use USAC money, what is available to them and how to apply for it.

In addition to the workshops, Lucas has been preparing a “how-to guide” on being a campus group at UCLA, and the Finance Committee will be posting online examples of applications requesting contingency funding.

The council’s efforts to reach out to student groups have resulted in positive student feedback.
“We used to be kept in the dark, but this year it’s really changed,” McCurley said.
Villalobos was also pleased with USAC’s increased efforts.

“Funding for Amnesty International is very limited,” Villalobos said. “Last year I definitely felt we needed the extra money, so I think it’s a good thing they’re making everything so available to us.”

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