Although the Boston University Allocations Board is making steps toward greater transparency, there are still policy isues that require reform and clarification, student organization representatives said.’
AB members met with about 15 student organization leaders at the George Sherman Union Back Court Wednesday to discuss ways to improve the funding process in a meeting titled ‘What do YOU think about AB funding?”
The AB is a student-run organization that distributes the Undergraduate Student Fee to groups for various programming in compliance with their policies.
‘ ‘We really wanted this to be an opening of our doors publicly to the undergrads on campus,’ AB chairwoman and University Professors Program junior Jackie Byrd said.
Student Activities Director Melinda Stroh said it is a good time to reflect on current policies and make minimal or ‘sweeping’ changes.
‘The largest part of the problem is everyone wants more money,’ she said.
Stroh said there are about 400 student organizations eligible for AB funding out of a total of 525 registered under the Student Activates Office. While AB has $450,000 to distribute among them, organizations spend about $3.2 million every year on programs, she said.
‘ ‘If you compare to other institutions, [BU] is doing an amazing job without receiving a lot of funding,’ she said. ‘It’s about how to utilize the money more effectively.”
‘ Student Activities Executive Director John Battaglino said students frequently complain about all the AB rules. One possibility, he said, is to eliminate the rules and distribute money throughout the groups using a tier system based on previous programming.’
‘We put a tremendous amount of effort into dividing the money,’ he said. ‘Maybe there’s an easier way. Maybe less policies, maybe no policies at all.’
However, students said this method would cause problems for groups that put on large-scale programming.
‘You’re rewarding people who don’t do anything and punishing those who do,’ International Affairs Association President Frank Pobutkiewicz said.
Pobutkiewicz said AB needs to be clearer in its policies by distributing concrete lists of AB policies.’
‘My main concerns are with [AB] internal policies that cause lots of confusion,’ he said.
Pobutkiewicz said the fact that eight students on the AB control the distribution of $450,000 is troublesome.
‘It’s very difficult to get your voice heard,’ he said.’
Other students said they doubt the ability of a small amount of students to understand the intricacies of all BU organizations.
AB Director of Operations Cassandra Jenecke said AB considers group diversity when appointing new members.’
‘ ‘We’re always trying to diversify the board, but it’s difficult because we do have a long membership process,’ Jenecke, CAS senior, said.’
Stroh said a ‘happy medium’ to satisfy the needs of both large, established groups and smaller groups that may be starting out is important.’
‘Your group may not necessarily care about getting involved in the political aspect of the funding process,’ she said. ‘Why should [AB] decide what is essential for your program?’
Byrd said one suggestion has been accounting for the number of attendees at groups’ events.’
‘The idea is that these big performances that sell out Tsai [Performance Center] are themselves a huge chunk of things,’ she said. ‘The thousands of tickets sold to that event, versus the 10 people meeting every week, should somehow determine something quantitatively.”
Byrd said AB holds workshops once a semester to meet with treasurers and explain the process, overall has become more open this semester.
The separate fund AB sets aside is for travel fees, which typically cover two-thirds of groups’ registration expenses and half of transportation fees. Everything else, such as speaker fees at events, which are capped at $2,000, is taken from the rest of the money, Byrd said.’
AB Treasurer Hawke Bassagnani said some issues arise from having a separate travel fund.
‘ ‘By having a large travel fund, are we encouraging groups to take their programming off campus?’ Bassagnani, CAS junior, asked.’
Another important question, Battaglino said, is the idea of allocating money for groups’ fundraisers.’
‘How many programs does [the AB] fund that actually are fundraising?’ he asked. ‘And does [the AB] get money back?’
Despite issues, students said AB is more approachable than in the past.
‘It was like standing in front of a panel of jurors,’ Pobutkiewicz said.’
Byrd said she wants the openness to continue and plans on having follow-up meetings to discuss reform.
‘Maybe it’s a time for change, but just ’cause we feel like that, doesn’t mean that students are going to show up and dramatically express that push for change,’ she said.
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