The motto “proper planning prevents poor performance” headlines Ohio University’s Division of Student Affairs website. Though plans change, Student Affairs can count on receiving 20 percent of the General Fee during the 2012–13 academic year — the second most behind Athletics.
Drawing $5,068,000 from student dollars this year, Student Affairs consists of six departments it directly funds, and various other student organizations and university entities receive funding through it.
The single largest budget, OU’s Dean of Students Office, drew $1.2 million in 2013, of which more than half went to student programming with the rest covering operating costs, salaries and the First-Year Student Convocation.
The Ohio University Student Activities Commission receives $405,409 from the Dean of Students Office, and the rest of the student programming money — $267,001 — is allocated to the Campus Involvement Center for free programming, in which 34,372 individuals participated during 197 events in the 2011-12 academic year.
Counseling and Psychological Services pulls in about $1 million to support eight counselors and psychologists, three student interns and a number of graduate students who, during the course of Fall Semester, counseled 5,839 students, according to Student Affairs data.
“I could quadruple the budget there in terms of the numbers of counselors and psychologists and psychiatrists and there would still be that demand — they would not have people sitting around idle,” Vice President for Student Affairs Ryan Lombardi said.
Lombardi’s own office follows Counseling and Psychological Services with $950,828 from the General Fee. About 65 percent of that total covers salaries, benefits and the office’s operating costs. The rest of the money pays for Commencement ($165,000) and fundraising ($103,864), and the rest covers two student-run initiatives: Homecoming and Student Senate.
The Career & Leadership Development Center receives $613,113 in General Fee dollars, edging out the Campus Involvement Center at $608,423.
Leading on-campus student involvement, the Campus Involvement Center spends about 85 percent of its budget on operating costs with the rest — $94,000 — going toward funding the Performing Arts Series.
“We do anywhere from 18 to 22 performances in MemAud using those funds, which in any given year will be in the neighborhood of $800,000, but that can swing depending on the shows we bring in,” said Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director at the Campus Involvement Center. “Some of that’s made up in ticket income, some of that’s made up in corporate sponsorships. The bulk of it is ticket income.”
More than 26,000 individuals attended Performing Arts Series events during the 2011-12 academic year.
The Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility rounds out the Student Affairs budget, with $305,957 allocated from the General Fee.
Student health care receives a $400,000 stipend through Student Affairs but actually receives most of its funding from the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, which operates Campus Care, and the optional WellBeing fee.
Campus Recreation, which includes Ping Center, and Event Services, which includes Baker University Center, are technically part of Student Affairs but have large enough budgets to be considered as separate lines in the General Fee’s budget.
dd195710@ohiou.edu
