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RSOs should expect additional budget cuts for this academic year.
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Student activities fees to be raised to keep FLC transit pass and RSOs
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Congratulations to Meryl Ramsey on being elected as Speaker of the Senate
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ASFLC welcomes Senator Sara Ben to the table
The Associated Students of Fort Lewis College held their second meeting of the 2016-17 academic year on Sept. 16, 2016. RSO budget cuts and raises in student fees were discussed.
Transit Fees:
Current FLC activity fees need to be raised in order to continue funding student transit passes, Harrison Thrasher, The ASFLC Senator, said
The ASFLC must keep in mind that they may also have to raise FLC activity fees for RSOs, Lauren Smith, Financial Allocation Board Director, said.
It is going to be a staggered increase, so by the end of five years FLC is going to need to have an additional $28,229 built into that student fee, Connor Cafferty, The ASFLC President, said in reference to the transit fee increase.
At the end of the five years there would need to be a 29 cent increase per credit hour for students for the transit pass, said Cafferty.
Cafferty would like to go ahead and just raise the fee to the 29 cent mark this year, he said.
No final decisions were made on this matter at this meeting.
RSO Budgets:
The ASFLC does not have any say in faculty salaries and benefits, that is the Environmental Center and KDUR, Mark Mastalski, The ASFLC adviser and Director of the Leadership Center, said.
Any potential raises in salaries made by the FLC Board of Trustees will automatically affect the amount of money The ASFLC can allocate to RSOs, Mastalski said.
Also the Durango Transit contract is going to increase by two percent every year regardless of what The ASFLC does further reducing the money for RSOs, he said.
There is a balance between covering the transit contract at a certain level and what you want to be able to provide to all of the RSOs, he said.
Senate wants to raise student activity fees in order to supplement the shortfall in RSO budget funds, Thrasher said.
The ASFLC is short $28,000 to $30,000 in terms of RSO funding according to Michelle Peterson, Cafferty said.
“However, last year there was an $18,000 surplus that went back into the rainy day fund,” he said.
Michelle Peterson suggests that The ASFLC uses this surplus for RSO budgets still leaving the RSO budget fund short by $10,000, he said.
“We need to start thinking about and telling the RSO IIs, who will have their budgets cut, what to expect immediately because they are operating under this fiscal year's budget,” he said.
It is imperative to let all the RSOs know that their budgets are not finalized because they are already spending money, Mastalski said.
There are a number of factors that will go into deciding budget cuts, Mason Shea, The ASFLC Vice President, said.
The ASFLC has $15,500 for travel and event grants, and this could potentially be cut to supplement this budget deficit, Mastalski said.
Another option for budget cutting would be to cut everyone equally, said Smith.
The next meeting will finalize the RSO budgets.
New Members & Posts:
The ASFLC also appointed new senator, Sara Ben, to the table during the meeting.
“I have always been a part of clubs and sports teams, so I will know how to carry my weight, and I am a pretty positive person,” Ben said.
Also, Meryl Ramsey was elected Speaker of the Senate in a vote during the meeting.
Next Week:
The ASFLC will finalize RSO budget cuts, and they will finalize the raises in student activity fees.