Senate Will Announce Two Additions to SFC This Week

This Sunday, Student Senate will elect two students to what is arguably one of the most powerful committees on campus. Vacancies on the Student Finance Committee, which delegates funds to the chartered organizations on campus, will be filled at Senate's weekly meeting.

"The Student Finance Committee is a body of students appointed by the Senate, it is totally independent of any administrator or any college employee. That's important to us, we're one of the few colleges like that," junior SFC Treasurer Bryan Engelhardt said.

Last spring, "two students resigned from SFC, two positions opened up," SFC committee member and senior Senator Erika Hansen said. In their absence, the four remaining members have been voting and making decisions. "We should actually have seven members, according to the [Senate] Constitution, but we've only had six for as long as I can remember," Engelhardt said.

Interested students contacted the Senate over the past weeks, and all applicants were interviewed. "It's a popular committee, because you have the power to dispense money," Hansen said, adding, "On Sunday night, the people who have been interviewing students will present to Student Senate with a slate, a list of names of students who they think should fill these committees." One of these slots must be filled by a first-year student.

Engelhardt, who sits on the SFC but does not vote, turned down an opportunity to help interview the candidates. "I don't think that it's my place to be there. I could probably give them advice as to what's good to look at, and maybe the correct questions to ask because I do sit on the committee, but I think that it should be appointed by a legislator that's been voted in by the students," he said, "We look at ourselves as a committee that allocates funds as objectively as humanly possible. We don't try to get in on picking our members."

Hansen said that Senate is not necessarily concerned with how fiscally conservative a student is, but looks for impartiality. "We just want to make sure that people do not just want to get on the SFC as a way for securing the funding for their particular group, and that they understand that there are limited resources that we have to work with and can look at what's in the best interest of the entire student body. If someone just has a particular agenda, that isn't generally looked upon too favorably," she said.

The $168 student activity fee paid by every student comprises the SFC's budget of approximately $450,000. Each spring, the student organizations submit charters outlining how much money they need, and for what activities. "We get asked for about $800,000 a year," Engelhardt said. The committee uses precedents set from previous years and takes into consideration new organizations and new activities planned by returning organizations. "We try and be as objective as possible. We don't budget by what we think they need, but what the charter says they need," Engelhardt said. Last spring, $380,000 was awarded in this initial stage.

In the fall, there is an appeals process in which organizations can return to the SFC if they feel they have not received enough money. This year, an additional $25,000 was given during appeals. "The Senate has the final say in everything. If the chartered organizations are upset after the appeals, they can go to the Senate and say, ŚWe still need more money,'" Engelhardt said. He quoted the Rules and Regulations, "The Senate should agree to hear an appeal only if the organization can demonstrate that the SFC has used its power unfairly or in an arbitrary manner."

The remaining budget of the SFC, an estimated $50,000, funds the ad-hoc process. "Ad-hoc is for other events, that can be from the chartered organizations that they didn't know were going to happen. Or, it can be special events like the hip-hop conference. There's going to be a circus in January," he said. Ad-hoc proposals are considered weekly.

"The Senate cannot remove SFC members once they have been appointed for the year," Engelhardt said, "but the committee is redone every year." Members are elected to one year terms, but "committee members try to stay on from year to year because they've learned the process and know the precedents," Engelhardt said.