When Student Government approved its 2016-2017 budget last spring, it made a $93,511 mistake.
Student leaders allocated that amount for an “administration fee” to the university.
The mistake created a shortfall that forced SG to cut funding for organizations like Campus Recreation and the Leadership and Student Organization.
The mistake in the budget was written by then-SG President Jozef Gherman and Chief Financial Officer Maria Almonte, who had just replaced Elizabeth Cooney after she resigned over what she called “ethical concerns” regarding SG’s fiscal process.
The SG appropriations committee is charged with reviewing the budget. But it did not catch the error.
It was not until weeks later that Matt Morrin, the university administrator who advises SG, caught and corrected the mistake.
“We essentially double-taxed ourselves,” Morrin told SG on July 27.
The $93,511 had already come out of another part of the budget that SG does not control, said Morrin, the university’s director of student life and engagement.
As chair of the appropriations committee last spring, James Scott acknowledged he missed the big mistake.
“Moving forward we need to have better communication throughout SG,” said Scott, who is now acting senate president. “It used to be a very top-down organization. This is more of a cultural issue than a policy problem.”
The now-corrected budget comes during a rocky stretch for Student Government.
So few students stood for elections last spring that there are 15 vacancies on the student senate.
Ziya Kardas, who drew no opposition, essentially became president by default. Alexis Germaise became vice president, but she later stepped down and was replaced by Gina Rotunno.
On Aug. 11 the university announced that Rotunno and Kardas had taken temporary leaves of absence for reasons that have not been explained.
The budget SG created is around $3.4 million and is separated into two parts. The University Student Center takes nearly $1.7 million out of the total. SG has no control over that money. The remainder is distributed by SG among a variety of organizations and entities on campus.
To correct the mistake SG passed an allocation bill during their final meeting in the summer semester. Half of the current student senate was unable to attend the meeting. Only six members out of 15 total senators voted for the bill.
Once the mistake was corrected, $20,011 was allocated for a concert. Kardas told student legislators at the summer meeting that he had community and business sponsors that could match the money to pay for a musical artist.The Spring Fling concert held two years ago cost Harborside Activities Board around $50,000, according to Kardas.
“I’ve heard back and the students are clamouring for a concert,” Kardas said. The money was originally slated to go into the SG reserves, which are designated for debt or emergency purposes.
If the concert is not put on, the money will be placed back into the SG reserve account.
Graphic By Ryan Callihan
