GSA financial codes under review after denying two officers’ reimbursement request

The graduate student government is looking to change its financial codes in response to recent confusion surrounding two officers’ conference trip in April.

At a cabinet meeting last Thursday, the Graduate Student Association cabinet, made up of 10 appointed and elected GSA officers, denied a $677 reimbursement to Arda Melkonian, the outgoing GSA vice president of internal affairs, and Doris Melkonian, the outgoing GSA vice president of academic affairs. The expenses, which total about $2,800, include the two officers’ costs from attending the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students conference in New York.

Michael Weismeyer, the outgoing GSA president, said the cabinet did not have enough information about the conference to approve the reimbursement. Other GSA officers were not aware the two had attended the conference until after they returned to UCLA, he added.

The approved amount of $2,100 came from a travel fund and did not require a cabinet vote. The unapproved funds would come from a cabinet discretionary fund, which requires a majority of the cabinet’s approval, Weismeyer said.

Arda and Doris Melkonian’s reimbursement form for the $2,100 only required two GSA officer signatures, said Roy Champawat, director of the UCLA student union.

According to the GSA codes, officers can sign off on their own reimbursements when two or more officer signatures are required.

This does not conform with Student Government Accounting guidelines, Champawat said.

Incoming GSA president David Zeke said he hopes to meet with Arda and Doris Melkonian and the incoming council to resolve the issue, and to prevent others from recurring.

Arda and Doris Melkonian said they are open to meeting with the incoming council to share details about the conference.

This is not an isolated incident ““ this past year GSA officials have been co-signing their own reimbursement forms when two signatures were required, Weismeyer said.

A majority of GSA officers need to approve travel expense reimbursements, according to GSA codes.

Throughout the year, however, GSA officers have not formally requested approval for all conference travel expenses prior to the trips, Arda Melonian said.

To prevent similar issues in the future, incoming GSA officers are looking to revise GSA codes for next year, Zeke said.

To clarify the code, more officers will be required to approve the travel expenses ““ either all elected officers or the majority of GSA cabinet, Zeke said. Officers will also need to inform the GSA cabinet of the travel beforehand.

GSA is considering expanding the pool of officers allowed to sign reimbursement forms so officers cannot sign their own forms.

The incoming GSA council will be able to vote on the revised codes at the next forum meeting in the fall, Zeke said.