Budget committee to provide assistance

Clarification: In a previous version of  this article, the allocation of the operation budget was unclear. The roughly $90,000 operating budget that the organization is responsible for allocating goes toward Student Association’s own expenses. 

The newly created Special Committee on the Budget is a positive addition by the Student Association and shows that the organization is taking steps to ensure its operating budget is being used effectively and correctly.

On Wednesday, Speaker Ben Jones appointed five members to the committee. The purpose of the committee is to oversee the roughly $90,000 operating budget that the organization is responsible for allocating for its own expenses. SA President Boris Gresely proposed that the committee be created during his campaign.

The committee will be able to provide recommendations, but will not have any way of implementing them. It will be up to the assembly to implement recommendations by the committee.

SA has had some issues with using its operating budget effectively in the past. Two years ago, the organization violated its codes when it spent almost $4,000 hosting a formal. Gresely said this is one of the reasons the committee has been formed.

It is wise for SA to have more people sharing the responsibility of closely watching the use of the operating budget and providing input on these decisions. The more people that are involved and educated on the use of the budget, the easier it will be for the organization to make sure the money is being used in the best way possible and that the organization does not violate any of its codes.

Having more students involved in overseeing the budget will also create more resources that are well-informed on the budget for assembly members and students to turn to if they have questions about how it is being used. With these five additional experts on the budget, the committee could help to make the organization more transparent both internally and externally.

It is important that, after a semester of having the committee, SA reviews how effective the committee has been so it can determine if the committee or its role needs to be changed.
Though it will take time to see the positive effects that the Special Committee on the Budget may have, creating the committee is a positive step for SA and President Boris Gresely.