Jeff Rickert will run for a second term as Student Association comptroller this November, with plans of improving the budget process for student organizations.

‘I see a lot of great programs come through as requests that never actually make it to actually be put on because of minor technicalities,’ he said.

Rickert has three goals to improve the budget process next year: allow funding for organizations to roll over from the spring to fall semester, provide funding for travel and create a committee of fiscal agents.

He became a member of the Finance Board in February 2009 and served on the board for the remainder of the calendar year. Last November, he ran unopposed for comptroller and has served in the position since January.

The comptroller serves at the head of the Finance Board, which votes on how to allocate the student activity fee. The comptroller works with organizations to get their funding requests in on time and explains the process.

The comptroller only advises the Finance Board and does not get a vote in funding decisions unless there is a tie. Once decisions on funding have been made, the comptroller must make sure the money is sent to where it is supposed to go, he said.

As part of tuition, undergraduate students must pay an activity fee of $185, which totals to about $2 million all together. The money goes to SA and is used to fund any of the 300-plus organizations that apply for funding during budget season, Rickert said. Last year, the Finance Board received requests totaling almost double the amount available.

Money for student organizations cannot roll over from the spring to the fall. Any money left must either be used up or given back to SA for funding for the current semester, Rickert said.

‘I want to change that so that you can roll it back over because I think that would be helpful for a lot of groups,’ he said.

Rickert also hopes to change SA’s codes so groups can receive funding for travel.

His last goal is to create a committee of students from various organizations to work on reforming the budget process.

‘I have my ideas of what’s wrong with it, but I’m not the one filling out the form and trying to get funding,’ Rickert said.

During his first year as comptroller, Rickert revised the form used by organizations to request funding. He added questions to give the Finance Board a better idea of what organizations intend to do with the funding they receive if requests are accepted.  

Groups often miss out on funding because of minor technicalities, such as not filling out the forms correctly, Rickert said.

As comptroller, he has worked to make sure the Finance Board follows the codes when making funding decisions, he said.

Students can vote for SA president and comptroller via MySlice from Nov. 8 to Nov. 11. Ten percent of the student body must vote for elections to be valid. Any student who wishes to run must confirm his or her candidacy by Oct. 15.

lgleveil@syr.edu  

 

Published on October 13, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Laurence: lgleveil@syr.edu | @lgleveille