University of North Florida
Student Government
2015-2016 Activity & Service Fee Budget Hearings
January 16, 2015
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III.
Call to Order
- Meeting is called to order at 9:31AM.
Roll call
- 6 members present
Budget Hearings
a. Osprey Productions (402017)
- John Chwalisz, Director of Osprey Productions: The proposed budget is $482,410.36.
Office wages for Director and Assistant Director are for 40 hours a week, we work over
our hours, but it is just what we have to do. Also there was an increase in minimum
wage. Additionally, I decreased the office assistant’s hours to 25 hours from 30. Line
item 5 there is a big change; there is an increase of $25,000. Students want bigger
concerts/events. Line item 18, this is marked 0, but we realigned this is to operating
expenses; this allows us to not be tied to a contract. For proposed operating expenses, I
have requested $13,000 for advertising. I proposed an increase of $1,000 in rental
items. Contract writer obligations are a decrease of $250. Lighting stages and sound
production I have an increase of $5,000. $14,500 for the Campus movie event, this if
for students to have the ability to compete making a movie on their own. I gave it that
1000 buffer for the case that the event might go up. Travel is important for the NACA
conference. It is a great conference, we learn a lot. It used to be put under the
president’s budget.
o Senator Kontol: Can you go over the rental expenses again? - Everything from
floaters, fencing, lighting, and others. If we are renting certain items it is easier
o Senator Kontol: You said lighting? - There is two different types of writing, there
are stage lighting for concerts. But there are also pole lightings or generators
that would be from renting.
o Senator Akers: is there a certain branding you use for lighting?- It depends on
the artist.
o Senator Akers: Lighting and sound, have you looked at purchasing those? - We
don’t have the ability to rig; they won’t let students do that. We did look into
purchasing something’s. But lighting has to be updated every year
o Senator Johnson: Line 3 and 4 of the wages, can you go over the difference
between program and office assistant? - Program assistant is our graphic
assistant. Office assistant is more of an office manager. It is two different
positions
o Senator Johnson: You said you lowered from 30 to 25, and they can still get
everything done? – Yes, we saw that on average they weren’t clocking 30.
o Senator Johnson: What would happen if you lowered to 20? - The graphic
designer wouldn’t have enough time for the flyers, or club alliance might not get
theirs.
Treasurer Wolf: What if office assistant is decreased down to 20? - I don’t know
if anyone has done reservations, but we could possibly lose space to that.
Student union has cracked down on that a lot.
o Chairman Kennedy: Can you touch on why you don’t receive from SLS anymore?
- We decided it was best not to. They all decided for us not to.
o Chairman Kennedy: Are you selling for OZ? - We will be.
o Senator Kontol: Under your Operating Expenses it says a decrease of 750 is it
supposed to be decreasing to 750 so a decrease of 250? - Yes that is what it is
supposed to say.
o Senator Johnson: For line item 14, what are the dues? - That is for NACA, it is a
due to be a part of the organization each year. We are a member and we attend
the conference.
o Senator Johnson: For the travel I think it was $6,000 what if it were to go down
to half, and then you were to request the travel from the senate. Would that
work? - This year with the $6,000, we couldn’t even take the whole staff. We
didn’t have the funding. So what if senate doesn’t pass it, only 2 or 3 people
could go. We would have to pick and choose. We can’t fundraise here in SG. We
could cut, but we couldn’t guarantee.
o Senator Johnson: What about 4,000? - This year we paid 5,150.
o Chairman Kennedy: Is there anything out of pocket?- no
o Director McGuire: Those are a little different than the travel process. These are
more business and organizational.
o Senator Johnson: They couldn’t come as OP to the B&A? - Correct.
b. Club Alliance(402040)
Justin Dato, Director of Club Alliance: For food I am requesting $1,000. That is for food
at the 6 general body meetings. This helps maintains attendance. This year we
experienced a 20% increase in attendance. Other materials and supplies $250, this goes
to road sign paper, they cover up a metal frame, the paper is pricey. Club alliance
Programming, this fiscal year we had $5,000. This year our main incentive was to
increase our club fairs. We are requesting $6,800 for the upcoming fiscal year. This line
also covers the presidential luncheon and president’s gala. We also use this line for
awards for the clubs. For Club Fest, it is our big event for the fall. We are requesting
$8,350. T-shirts. Food is insanely expensive. We had to get extra tables and chairs from
Physical Facilities for 350. We also have giveaways for 1000. Spring Bash for $7,850.
This is for t-shirts, food, tables and chairs, giveaways, and attraction. Attraction will help
increase the attendance that is why I allotted 1,000 for that (march 3). For our last line
that is our marketing and advertising line, for $750. We advertise for events such as
Club Fest and Spring Bash. This will be for road signs and A Frame inserts. I did not put
the request for OPS wages, but that is in your packet. Minimum wages did increase, but
our hours did not change.
o Senator McCulskey: I see that 2012-2013 on operating expenses on line item 2
you dropped down 2300. You are now asking for 0$. If we gave what you asked
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for in the past, could we allocate them? - We start over. That is the past that is
just a reference for us to see.
o Senator Silberstein: For spring bash there was an increase of $1,000 to bring in
attraction? - I was basing it off of what we brought to the Luau; we spent about
$750 on slushies’.
o Chairman Kennedy: How much of the advertising budget have you used? - We
were running late on designs, so we didn’t have enough time to order those.
o Senator Johnson: In line 8 and 9 you have allocations for food specific to each of
those, how often are those meetings that the food allocations goes through?- The
meetings have a line for food, and that is usually all used up.
o Senator Johnson: $4500 for club fest and $4000 so total of $9,000. So could there
just be less food? - Food is very expensive, I tried to bargain but there isn’t much
wiggle room.
c. SG Judiciary(402063)
Ben Jaeger, Chief Justice: There is an addendum to number 5, my deputy chief justice
will hand that out to you. One of our biggest responsibilities is parking appeals. We also
handle judicial complaints and judicial reviews. This year we were allocated $11,760.08
at 30 hours a week for the Chief Justice and that seems about right. The Deputy Chief
Justice was allocated $3,920.03. Office supplies were consolidated into execs budget. I
anticipate we will be using the rest of the food budget for this year. 16,928.26 we did
receive a special request. For next year we are requesting the same amount for the chief
justice and the deputy chief justice. We are requesting an addition of a line item for the
senior associate justice for $2,613.35, there is a big need for this position to help
alleviate some of the responsibilities of the deputy chief justice. We are also requesting
reserve wages in the amount of 405. We had a lot of volunteered time last semester. We
are requesting nothing for telephone wages and office supplies. We are requesting $150
for education supplies, for Roberts’s rules book along with other books. We are
requesting $200 for food. $300 for other materials and supplies. Our robes are actually
graduation gowns, so we would like some actual robes and a shirt. Total request is
$19,399.26
o Chairman Kennedy: You are working 40-45 per week or time period? - Just for
this particular time period.
o Chairman Kennedy: Can you touch on the educational supplies? - Mostly books.
o Chairman Kennedy: As for the reserved wages, you have opened a new position
at 10 hours a week, so that would be a total of 50 hours a week between the 3 of
you, so would the reserved wages still be necessary?- That is just in case we
experience a semester just like last semester. I was working way over.
o Senator Johnson: Can you expand on the Robes? - I am still looking into that,
they are pretty expensive they are around 100. And we would need 7.
o Senator Silberstein: Because you will have this new position, couldn’t you cut
your chief justice hours? - Not necessarily, this will help the deputy chief justice.
Senator Johnson: Could it be said that now that you have the new position, that
the work load will be fielded? - Yes, we are hoping we won’t have to touch that
reserve. This is for just in case we have another similar semester as last.
o Chairman Kennedy: Can you describe some of the roles how the deputy and
senior position? - This will help establish continuity within the branch. The
deputy will have a lot more say than the senior chief justice.
o Chairman Kennedy: Is that role currently filled?- No, I am thinking of appointing
someone once we have a full bench
o Senator Johnson: Do you expect the senior to volunteer, would 5 hours a work? There will might be a few hours volunteered. 5 hours would be too little.
d. Executive(402060)
Joseph Turner, Student Body President: I wanted to cut about 5%, but was only able to
cut 2.3%. Because we are including $10,000 for the print lab. I am currently operating at
115 a week. It seems like a lot but it goes pretty quickly. SG treasurer moved from
business and accounting office to the exec cabinet at 30 hours a week. Operating
expenses: there is an executive operating expense, what happened last year we
consolidates all student government wide expenses all the way into the exec budget. It
all goes through one office; we have been able to save some money through that. I am
requesting $10 for postage. For the travel line we are requesting $8,000 instead of
$10,000. Food line I am requesting down to $1,000. Cell phone line we are cutting for
this year, that is not necessary going forward. Executive programming, there was a large
jump from last fiscal year to this we offloaded a quarter million dollars for OP. Special
projects line there was the swoop the loop event that could be done under the executive
programming. Last $2,000 line is for marketing and promotion. One thing that I noticed,
we don’t do a good enough job marketing. SG general expenses, all student government
office expenditures came out of the executive branch. We haven’t spent very much this
past year. You might be able to cut a bit more of $4500. If you need to, it could cut
another $1500 and things should be fine. Golf cart repair and maintenance, $500 is ok
for that. SG retreat, we haven’t spent any of that because that is for the next
administration at the end of this year. SG awards are about $3000 for the SG banquet.
Testing supplies included money for scantrons, now those are handed out in the
classroom. So, the cost was $7,000, the remaining $3,000 is for green books. Computers
you’ll see a big increase, we got SG on a 5 year rotation plan. The new line is $10,000 for
the free print lab, which is currently running on a special request. This allows students
to print on student government computers. This budget is for about 400,000 prints.
o Chairman Kennedy: As far as the free print lab and special request in question 7
was that for this year? - That was for the fall and spring, and furniture for the
lab.
o Senator Johnson: For line 13, you said you haven’t been doing a good job, but
you are bringing it down? - I think the amount of $2,000 will get the job done.
o Senator Silberstein: For OPS wages, you had the director of analytics and
research can you elaborate on that position?- It was a position that looked into
our budget and what we had been spending money on and to project our
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expenses in the future. I will not be filling that position for the remainder of this
year.
o Chairman Kennedy: Point of Information, as far as that line item goes, the acting
president has the power to delegate this to whatever position they chose. It is up
to presidential discretion.
o Chairman Kennedy: Can you say what employees are in that line? - I had at most
6 and I currently have 4 in that line. It depends on the president.
o Senator Johnson: Can the president redistribute the hours? - We fund through
excess hours. Not everyone works their budgeted amount of hours each week.
Kyler Dykes, Lend-A-Wing Pantry Coordinator: For the budget, we made a few changes.
For operating expenses, $250 for printing. For promotional items I am proposing an
increase to $2500. We use this to purchase the grocery tote bags with the lend-a-wing
logo. If they bring it back they can get more. We also want to purchase road signs. Office
supplies line will be staying the same. If you look at food line it is now at $0. For the
programming line also is now at $0. This was used to put on programming events, and I
don’t think we need that. The last change is for salary, I am proposing an increase from
20 hours a week to 30 hours a week, since we are having more partnerships. We are
trying to get our foundation account up and running, to open us up to a wide range of
donors. That increase of hours is very justified.
o Senator Kontol: You guys get volunteers, on average how many hours? - We are
open about 13 hours a week; we had someone there at all times.
o Senator Akers: How many hours a week did you work? - 20.
o Senator Johnson: The special request you expect to put in, can you ball park how
much that will cost? - I talked with the gardens; it is a little harder than we
thought. We will have the garden staff to come in at least once a twice a week to
distribute it themselves. I do not foresee that special request coming forth.
o Senator Kontol: Will you be open longer with the increase of hours?- Yes.
o Senator Silberstein: Do you have an estimate of promotions? - We don’t have an
estimate yet.
o Chairman Kennedy: With the future partnerships, would they be able to
promote, so the $700 increase won’t be necessary?- I think the bulk of
promotion has to come from us.
o Senator Akers: You had $1,800 the past year for promotional items, and you said
you didn’t use any? - We do have plans to spend all of that this semester.
o Chairman Kennedy: Is spring busier? - It gets busier each semester.
e. Overhead(402098)
Director McGuire: As for the Overhead the University mandates that revenue.
Unfortunately that number is what it is; we can’t do anything about that.
Business Manager Knipe: It is a function of the budget, as you cut and increase budgets
that number will be affected. There is also a figure there for insurance.
f. Salary Reserves(402099)
Director McGuire: This will be going down to $41,000. If you take all minimum wage
employee in our budget, that is a lot of costs. Every budget is only for half of the year.
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Every year we do not how much CPI and inflation will be changing. This is an
accumulation of all the wages. Salary increase and fringe benefits are also included in
this. That last column is what you are actually funding. That is going down because the
salary increases go into effect in October. This is why the number is dropping.
g. Recreation(402030)
Director Purser: Recreation includes intermural sports. *Justin Cato discusses
intermural participations and utilization.* Recreation also included Eco Adventure, an
initiative from Student Government. *Amy Costa discusses Eco Adventure’s gear
checkout, trips given, the osprey challenge course, zip line nights*. The main increase is
found in the OPS categories. We are asking for money to operate the skate park, last
year it was funded through SLS. It is for one staff member to operate the skate park for
40 hours a week. The next change is related to the new field house. It is the conversion
of the aquatic center, for intermural sports. I have asked for OPS money for the staff in
the field house, 93 hours a week for two staff. That will be open in time for fall semester.
For operating expenses, we have asked for redistribution. In printing and reproduction
we asked that 200 of that be transferred into repairs and maintenance. We reduced our
utility line by $10,000, to be redistributed. The other item is operating expense for the
new field house.
o Senator Bottom: You have under rec gym, educational supplies? - That is money
for CPR and first aid for the staff.
o Senator Johnson: Can you tell us what the satellite radio line is? - There is a
sound system in the facility broken up into zones. This allows us to play music in
the facility.
o Chairman Kennedy: Can you explain the new rec gym? - We would be happy to
come and bring blue prints of the rec gym to senate. It is a mirror of the arena
gym; it will accommodate 3 basketball courts, 2 volley ball, soccer, etc. There
will also be locker rooms and meeting spaces.
o Chairman Kennedy: On line 19, over the past 3 years it has grown a little over
$2,800. Can you touch on that increase? - Much of the equipment is expendable;
it doesn’t have a long shelf life.
o Chairman Kennedy: As far as the rec gym staff, is that for two staff members? Yes it is 93 hours for two staff, it won’t be the same two people, and it’ll be a
student job opportunity.
o Senator Kontol: Where did the skate park funds come from before? - From SLS
funds. If student government doesn’t fund the skate park this upcoming year it
would have to close down.
h. Student Wellness Complex(402031)
Director Purser: The student wellness complex was another huge Student Government
initiative. *Jim Ballard talks about the increases in usage of the student wellness
complex*. *Justin Cato talks about the stats on the Osprey Cliff*. There is only one
change to the budget. In September you all funded a full time non-student OPS fitness
coordinator, this year we are asking you to fund 75%($32,400) of that position. We are
going to use our auxiliary budget to fund the other 25%. *Jim Ballard talks about the
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importance of the fitness equipment coordinator*. We want to reduce the printing line
and take it down into equipment and supplies.
o Senator Johnson: On line 9 can you describe what the dues are? - That is for
NIRSA, it allows our school to be a member of that organization. This allows us
to attend their conference.
o Chairman Kennedy: You have two staff members on the rock climbing, can you
have 1? - It would reduce the amount of students who can do the wall. It is also a
safety issue.
o Senator Kontol: For line item 1, that has been at $1,000 but it used to be at $500.
Could it go back to $500? - We have used about $900 of it. So if it was cut, we
couldn’t give out as much.
o Senator Bottom: How do you fix equipment now? - Two really handy student
workers.
o Senator Silberstein: For group fitness, you barely touched that expense in the
14-15 year? - The way we buy that equipment is cyclical. The order goes through
the spring semester.
o Chairman Kennedy: With the growth, how much would you say is non-student
entry? - 6% or 7%.
o Chairman Kennedy: What is the effect of that on the auxiliary budget? - There is
not really a growth in the auxiliary budget.
i. Arena(140011)
- Director Purser: Now with the building of the field house, we are going to see campus
recreation transition out of the arena. There will still be events in the arena, and access
for student groups/organizations. Athletics has told us they will close it off at 7:30. In
order to keep the access we have we want to be able to staff that with one staff member.
j. Business and Accounting Office(402097)
- Director McGuire: This is for all of the professional staff wages. There are 110 hours at
minimum wages for the student assistants. We aren’t reducing the Rotunda hours as
much since we are moving the print lab, the primary people watching that area will be
the student assistants in the Rotunda. This budget also includes the salaries for all of the
professional staff. The operating expenses, I added $540 for a cell phone stipend. Travel
went down, since the trainings can be held internally.
k. Special Requests(402097)
- Business Manager Knipe: These are opportunity funds. These are for things that can’t be
planned ahead for. We don’t want to raise it at all, except the OP ticket revenue. Total
balance is $450,000. We didn’t change anything else since it has been working.
l. Travel Requests (402097)
- Business Manager Knipe: This is recommended that it stays the same. This is something
you as a committee are familiar with. This allows students/clubs to travel.
Final Roll call
- 4 members present.
Adjournment
- Meeting is adjourned at 1:58PM.