NEWS

Student Life budget given addittional $20,000

Division's original budget is abnormally low

by Abby Person

The Division of Student Life was allocated an extra $20,000 earlier this fall after Assistant to the President Diana Roose deemed the increase necessary. Student Life had been given $30,000 earlier in the fall, a cut of around $13,000 from its capital budget of last year.

Because the division of Student Life was disrupted by the resignation earlier this fall of Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole-Newkirk, the department did not have the proper opportunity to consult with senior staff to express the need for the money.

According to Vice President of Finance Andy Evans, the normal consultation that occurs between the College and departments concerning budgets didn't happen because of the transitions in Student Life.

"The consultations didn't happen because [Cole-Newkirk] wasn't here," Evans said. "There should have been greater consultation, but I'm not worried about it."

The capital budget is for the purchase of useful equipment such as furnishings and vehicles. It was separated from the operating budget two years ago. Kinks in the process of separating the two are still being worked out.

Assistant to the President Diana Roose, who oversees the division of Student Life, said divisions normally come into the budgeting process with their requests prepared to bargain.

The budget difference came "because it was made when things were up in the air in Student Life," Roose said. "It's not a huge amount, but it will make a difference. It's really sort of a non-issue."

The funding will help pay for things such as vehicles for Residential Life and equipment for the security office, including a new vehicle for the shuttle service.

"The division has as much money as it had last year to do the majority of things it proposed to do," she said.

The capital budget does not affect dorm renovations or other operating budgetary expenses. According to Roose, the $20,000 will not be taken from money already allocated to other divisions.

"It probably will come out of another pail," she said.

The final budget will have to be finalized before the March meeting of the board of Trustees.

"There is a feeling that we need to go back and look at Student Life because we did miss that consultation period," Evans said.

Associate Dean of Student Life and Services Ken Holmes said the division was normally notified of the preliminary capital budget a few weeks before fall break. "We finally found out we only had $30,000," he said. "When we talked with Diana, we explained that was not enough."

"Basically we got what we needed," Holmes said.

Last year, the money allocated to the Student Life capital budget was around $43,000, compared to a proposed $50,000 this year, Holmes said.

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Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 11, December 5, 1997

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