Dear Undergraduate Students,

Although I was elected to the position of executive vice-president of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG), shortly after taking office last May our treasurer unexpectedly resigned.  This required that I additionally serve in the capacity of acting treasurer until one could be elected this fall.

At first, I was met with what could be best described as fear, from various student leaders and campus administrators, that the USG would crumble to its knees without a treasurer.  President Matthew Graham and I developed a near-seamless plan to address these concerns and a vast majority of clubs have noticed that our service has improved tremendously over last year.

In addition to maintaining the club funding processes, these last six months have given me an intimate knowledge of the USG’s financial situation, one which has brought to light more questions than answers.  Last spring, the USG Senate appropriated an unprecedented amount of funding towards student organizations: 57 percent, or over $1.5 million of our annual $2.8 million budget.  I quickly learned, however, that this new baseline for club funding did not come without consequence.  The USG’s operational budget, which includes services such as event programming and free one-on-one tutoring, were at risk of running out of funds mid-year without cutbacks.  In order to allow for improvement in these services, I condensed every USG operational budget line looking for funding that could be re-appropriated.

After the budget had been stabilized, the USG began to feel the pressure of somewhat opposing goals: the desire to provide more direct programming and services to the student body, USG-funded student organizations demanding more funding, and over 20 new clubs seeking to join the over 160 organizations who receive funding from the USG.  To ease some of these pressures, the USG voted to place a referendum on last week’s election to raise the Student Activity Fee by $5.75 to $100 per semester.  In retrospect, however, it may not have been the most prudent of decisions to increase our coffers without first addressing the real issues at stake.

First, this campus is over-saturated with student groups.  While admissions loves to boast to prospective students that we have over 300 student-run organizations, how many of them actually are providing benefit to the student body?  We have fostered a culture on this campus to start a new organization because of the smallest e-board dispute or the need to pad a resume with “leadership experience.”

By allowing groups to multiply like this, we have established mediocrity as the status quo for student life.  If trying to book a room on this campus is any indication, a plethora of meetings and events are going on any given day of the week.

However, a quick stroll through the SAC reveals the real issue at hand: speakers are talking to audiences of 25 people in a room that can hold 80.  With so many groups sharing a similar purpose, we have narrowed the audience that any one group can attract.

Second, the lack of fluidity in the USG budget stifles innovative programming.  The days of appropriating budgets of over $10,000 to organizations needs to end.  While a select few need to have these large budgets due to the fixed costs necessary for their operation, the overwhelming majority does not.  An interesting phenomenon that I have noticed is most clubs frivolously spend a large portion of their budget during the months of March and April.  This spend-down is practiced by most clubs after realizing they will have extra money left in their budget at the end of the year.

Is this wasteful spending teaching fiscal responsibility?  Hardly.  We need to get rid of this notion that in order to have a successful club, it needs to have a large budget.  I have seen more organizations do more with less money because they are forced to make decisions about what purchases are important. Instead, I propose that we place a substantial amount of this misappropriated funding in a budget line for grants, so that clubs may request additional funding as necessary.  This lowers the risk on our investment, allowing the USG to dynamically adjust funding instead of it being locked up in a budget line for the entire fiscal year.

Regardless of the results of the referendum, the USG’s laissez-faire approach to club oversight must end.  We were elected by the student body to ensure the Student Activity Fee is spent appropriately.  While I cannot speak for the past, during my time in USG we have made great inroads in fulfilling this mission, but a lot of work still needs to be done.  However, the USG is not the only one responsible for this mess.  We, as a campus, have put quantity over quality and this, in my opinion, is the biggest cause for the feeling that Stony Brook lacks student life.

Good luck on finals,

Alexander Dimitriyadi
USG Executive Vice-President