Student Senate President-elect Robert Leary presented his ideas for next year's budget, adding funding for communications initiatives as promised during his campaign.
A combination of projected carryover from this academic year with an additional $4,000 from the university next year brings the total budget to $40,000, a $7,000 increase from this year's budget, Leary said.
In accordance with his effort to expand outreach, the senate is budgeting an additional $5,000 for communications.
This is just a way for us to show our priorities
Leary said, put our money where our mouth is.
Leary said the communication fund was an improvement over this year's advertising fund a distinction he said reflected the more aggressive initiatives the senate would undertake.
I just thought 'communications' could be more vague Leary said. It covers any kind of outreach.
Among other changes to the budget, senate will allot several thousand dollars to community initiatives and Senate-Based initiatives
as well as senate commissions. Another $2,000 will go to staff wages, in order to keep up with the increasing minimum wage, Leary said.
Pretty much everything is getting an increase. Leary said.
At the same time, senate is cutting $1,100 from its copy budget because the fund was largely unused this year, Leary said. Also seeing reductions are leadership development programs such as the fall retreat, and its general fund will shrink to $2,207 from $7,503 this year.
Leary also allotted an additional $1,000 to the senate's information technology fund as part of a plan to improve the senate Web site.
Student Senate should hire a Webmaster
Leary said. He also discussed moving Senate's records from its current server to a university-managed server, eliminating the need for them to maintain their own server. Leary said such a process would also be expensive.
Vice President Sally Neidhard questioned the need for a paid Web site manager.
Given the way our web site is set up
it doesn't require someone with IT know-how
just basic computer functioning said Neidhard, adding
that person did not need to be paid.
Leary said paying the Webmaster would be something for senate to discuss next year, stressing that the funding decisions were not final.
None of the funds are concrete
he said. All sub-accounts are kind of arbitrary
it's really just one pot of money.
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