SGA approves budget, $49,400 to give away

For the first time, the Student Government Association Student Senate approved and passed the SGA operations budget Tuesday evening - and it won't be the last time.Senate will able to examine the operations budget each month to see if the funds allotted within the budget are legal and needed, said Justin Schriver, SGA treasurer.

Monthly operations budget updates will also examine additions to the budget and changes, Amy Jo Smith, SGA executive vice president, said.

"The operations budget - it's taking a new spin," Schriver said. "It's going through more channels."

The operations budget controls funds used by Senate and SGA.

The Board of Regents appropriated $22,500 for SGA. About $16,000 of those funds were put towards the operational budget.

A little less than $11,000 of funds not used in the previous year rolled over to this year, but will not be usable until federal funding records are turned in to the state, he said.

Schriver said $33,453 was budgeted for SGA operations.

The total takes into account the estimated rollover from the previous year.

Among larger appropriations in the operations budget was $1,000 appropriated to each of the three extended campus SGA councils in Corbin, Danville and Manchester.

For the director of University Traditions, $3,200 was appropriated for the Eastern vs. Western football game bus rental, food, 500 spirit T-shirts for Homecoming and the Colonel Spirit Challenge.

Taking the operations budget through the Senate makes SGA more accountable for items considered in the budget and funds appropriated for those items, Schriver said.

After Senate, the budget will make its way through the Student Affairs Committee and then on to the president, he said.

Smith said the Senate plans on updating bylaws for extended campus councils to match the SGA constitution and limit confusion concerning the spending of funds appropriated by the operations budget.

The bylaws for extended campuses have not been updated since 2000, she said.

"We want to make sure bylaws are accurate and up to date for (extended campus councils)," Smith said. "The councils are following the constitution for funding, but we want to make sure the bylaws state what the constitution says."

The Residence Life Council, Student Activities Council and Senate have bylaws, general statements concerning the specifics for each council.

For example, Senate may be including job descriptions for college representatives in the Senate bylaws, but those descriptions only pertain to Senate governance and will not be present in the bylaws of RLC or SAC.

The SGA constitution is a larger umbrella that covers every aspect of student government, offering detailed and extensive explanations of SGA operations, she said.

In addition to the operations budget, two other budgets help keep SGA running, Schriver said.

The student organizational funding budget for this year was appropriated in last spring's student organizational funding budget, he said.

A total of $49,400 will be divided among groups in increments during the next two semesters for student organizations. Sixty percent of the funds were divided among student groups this semester.

The remaining 40 percent will be budgeted this academic year, with the fall semester appropriating 30 percent to student organizations and the spring semester appropriating 10 percent for organizations that may have found out about last-minute opportunities or trips they would like to take advantage of during the summer session, for example, he said.

The office supplies budget includes $8,800 in funds.

"If you've got money, you need to spend it wisely," Schriver said. " If you don't have nothing to spend it on, you wait until you have something to spend it on."

Reach Megan at
megan_jones123@eku.edu