SGA planning to request $1.8 million in funds
The Student Government Association is moving ahead with its plan to encourage the university to increase the Campus Programing Fund to $1.8 million.
SGA Vice President Patrick O’Connor presented a draft resolution asking for the CPF increase at the special committee meeting Monday. The finished resolution will be voted on at the Nov. 18 SGA board meeting.
Each committee passed the draft with the exception of the Governmental Affairs Committee, choosing to table it and not vote at all.
The current CPF fund is at $888,000, and has not been adjusted for inflation since its inception in 2001, losing about $349,000 in buying power, according to a report by Kevin White, SGA Student Budget Allocation Committee chair.
An exploratory committee formed in October was tasked with asking each of the offices that receive funding from CPF, including Student Life, Greek life, the Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center and Program Board, to see if they are being affected by the shortage.
Each of the offices told the committee they were being shorted and could benefit from an increased budget. Program Board alone stated it needed a budget of at least $200,000 to better draw in entertainers and organize events CMU students would be interested in attending.
“The money in CPF goes directly to the students,” said SGA Student Body President Marie Reimers. "Every student on campus is touched by one of the offices that are funded with CPF. The offices that receive CPF dollars add to the retention and recruitment of students, so increasing CPF is helping the university as much as it is the students.”
Several SGA senators and representatives raised the question of where the additional funding would come from.
Additional money for the fund would likely come from student tuition, which has steadily increased over the years.
“The university increases tuition every year,” O’Connor said during the presentation. "The additional funding we’re asking for will most like come out of that."
White will present the proposal to the Board of Trustees at the special Board of Trustees Student Liaison meeting, where SGA can communicate directly with the Board of Trustees, on Dec. 4.
