The Colby Echo

Issue date: 3/9/07 Section: Election

Hi Colby! I'm Tim Williams and I'm hoping to serve you as SGA Treasurer next year. Why should you care, you ask? The answer is really simple-the treasurer is single handedly in charge of all club budgets. The difference between a year full of events and one with none can very well be the treasurer. I promise you that as treasurer it will be a year full of club events and activities, and here's how I plan to do it.

Last fall I founded a networking organization among the student governments among the NESCAC. In speaking with the leaders at other student governments, it became very obvious that the Colby budget process was indeed way behind (which has been long talked about by student leaders here at Colby). Currently, budget allocations are decided by the treasurer during orientation week based on request forms from the previous spring. The level of activity of a club is determined solely by how much money was spent the previous year, not what the money was spent on. There are a number of problems with this type of process. Requiring budget forms in the spring can often mean graduating club leaders have to fill out a request without knowing who their replacement will be and what their goals are. Potential new club leaders may not even be able to fill out the form if their club is inactive, leading to another inactive year. My plan is to accept budget requests in the first week of school in the fall, followed up by a meeting with leaders of every club that want to meet to explain their proposal face to face. It won't be just me deciding, however.

Almost every college in the nation has some sort of club funding committee/finance board. The concept is simple-a four or five person board meets to decide on the budget allocations instead of just one person. The end result is ensured objectivity and more creativity. My job as treasurer would be to coordinate and assist the board, and execute their decisions. Applicants to the finance board would be carefully screened by the SGA membership and you the student body. The process would be simple: at the beginning of the year club leaders would submit their budget request, followed up by a face to face meeting with myself and the board. The board would then vote on the budgets for all the clubs. The benefit to the club leaders is that they get to apply for their own budget-not just receive what the previous year's leaders applied for. Budgets would also be decided on what the club actually has done in the past, not just how much money they spent. We will of course take into consideration that past club leaders may not be as ambitious as new ones, meeting face to face will help decipher that a lot. Nothing will be set in stone, however, until I am able to meet with club leaders to seek their input.

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