Activity fee surplus funds student orgs

After several years of budget surpluses, the current student activities reserve holds over $400,000, according to SGA and Finance Committee meeting minutes.

Much of the surplus, said SGA Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair Will McConaughy ’11, came from the “activities fee being increased by almost double six to eight years ago.” The fee was increased again by $20 a few years ago, although the Finance Committee noted that there was still an excess of money being accumulated in the reserves at the end of each year. Yet the main reason why the money has accumulated is that groups have not been “spending what they’ve been allocated” and much of the money is returned to the reserves at the end of the year, McConaughy added.

The reserves represent a financial account that supports student organizations and MCAB and the SGA.

“Money is also given to the Commons for individual events like the Hepburn Haunted House or Wonnacott Ball, McConaughy said. “As such, the reserve does not serve a specific constituency.” While the money could potentially be used for anything, every allotment must be passed through the senate and voted upon. As such, although the money could be used for a single large project headed by the SGA, according to McConaughy said scenario is “highly unlikely.”

In accordance with the Finance Committee and club guidelines, the Finance Committee considers each club or event and evaluates them on an individual basis. “Based on the group’s needs and overall sum we have, we allocate them ‘x’ amount of money.” The amount of money given to each event or group does not have to be spent entirely. At the end of the year, the leftover money in the accounts is returned to the reserve which, as years have gone by, resulted in the surplus.

Once a club is approved and allocated a certain amount of money from the Finance Committee, they are given relatively free reign to spend those funds. As long as the money is spent on something that will reasonably benefit the club — not merely to give away items for free, for example — the leaders of such projects have great freedom in what they choose to use the money for.

While the reserve has no specific intentioned use, it is open to new and innovative student ideas. The Middlebury Mountain Club (MMC), for example, decided it wanted to reinstate more outdoor orientation programs this year. While the College did not agree to fund the entirety of the project, the Finance Committee and SGA was open to evaluating the club’s project and needs and created a budget to fill the gap in funding left by the College.

The program created with the new funding — Outdoor Initiatives for New Kids (OINK) — is a much smaller program than its MOO and MiddView predecessors because the funding received was not as much as in the past, according to Emma Loizeaux ’13, head guide of the MMC.

The program received strong support from the SGA senators who voted to fund it, MMC Treasurer Maya von Wodtke wrote in an e-mail. In order to apply for funding, the MMC submitted a written application and appeared before the SGA.

The reserve’s uses are fluid and the committee is always open to suggestions of how such money should be spent with regard to organizations or events.

“It’s been built up by years of students, people before me, and we don’t want to spend it all on one year,” McConaughy said. “We want it to go toward the betterment of the community, not just on one class.”

Looking forward, McConaughy acknowledges that the $400,000 is a “a bit too much of a cushion, so we’re trying to figure out whether to pay the clubs more or have the activities fee be less, but we haven’t come to a consensus.”

“The Finance Committee does not know much we’re going to return this year and since the clubs have relatively more free reign this year we are unsure of the final outcome,” he added. The debate regarding the Reserve is going to be a continual process of revaluation and readjustment. Regardless, McConaughy said, having more money than necessary is “a good problem to have.”