April 25, 2016
Scribe Staff
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The budgeting for the 2016-17 school year is a mess.
An overestimate on the growth of the university and the resulting emptying of the safeguard carry forward fund of the student activity fee have combined to throw budget season for student clubs and organizationsinto a loop-de-loop that no one can get out of.
Student clubs and organizations at UCCS are funded through the student activity fee, a $14 per student per semester fee that is pooled together and allocated by SGA.
In the March 28 edition of The Scribe, it was reported that UCCS over-projected the student enrollment increase in fall 2015.
While the projected increase was 2.8 percent, the actual increase was 1.5 percent. This directly impacts the student activity fee, in which the amount of available funds changes based on the number of students at UCCS.
As a result, the carry forward fund of the student activity fee, which contained surplus money from previous years, had to be emptied to account for the loss in expected revenue. But that wasn’t enough to fix the problem.
Essentially all student club and organization budgets have experienced cuts for the 2016-17 school year, and will experience deeper versions as the process is revisited this month. Many clubs and organizations, after getting a budget preliminarily passed, will have to return to the drawing board.
These changes in budgetary allocations will directly affect the ability for students to have experiences outside of the classroom while at UCCS.
This is what UCCS must be watchful for: shooting too high, too fast.
With all the growth of this university, it is easy to get caught up in the tide. But university officials as well as students must keep both eyes open, lest more overestimates put students into situations that affect their experience while at UCCS.