SGA passes resolution asking for $1.8 million
A resolution requesting the Campus Programming Fund be increased to $1.8 million passed Monday night at the last Student Government Association meeting of the semester.
The resolution passed both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives with a vote of 80-21, sending the resolution to SGA President Marie Reimers for her approval before introducing it to the board of trustees on Dec. 5.
“It feels like I just gave birth to a child,” said Student Budget Allocation Chair and author of the resolution Kevin White, reacting to the vote. “I knew there was going to be some concerns about the resolution, but I knew in the end it would come through.”
An amendment to the resolution introduced at the Nov. 18 SGA meeting requiring the fund to be raised on par with tuition increases was dropped after being voted down in the House, 76-25.
“If we put this amendment in there, we would be asking them to give us money in a certain way,” said Senator and Arizona senior Alex Kennedy. “The more stipulations we include in the resolution when we give it to the Board of Trustees, the less likely they will endorse it.”
Although the resolution ended up passing, there were still concerns about how the budget increase would affect tuition rates and whether increasing the CPF budget was a worthy venture.
“When my college can’t afford to buy pencils or Blue Books, I find it discouraging that we want to dump so much money into a concert at the university,” said Brighton senior Senator William Joseph. “Our tuition dollars should be spent on our education.”
Reimers told the House that, according to Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services Steven Johnson, CPF has an impact on student retention at Central Michigan University and is worth the effort to bring the fund up to the $1.8 million.
Additionally, the student disability service resolution, asking the university to add more funding and workers to Disability Services, along with the divestment resolution, asking the university to become less invested with oil companies, were passed in both the House and Senate.
A house bylaw amendment that would allow the House to vote to change its own codes, rules and procedures was introduced and tabled until the next SGA meeting, which will take place in the spring semester.
