The Missouri Students Association is tightening its belt and every MSA department and auxiliary is feeling the pinch.
“I’ve never seen a harder year than this year,” MSA Adviser Farouk Aregbe said to Full Senate on March 20.
For the 2013-14 fiscal year, MSA had about $87,000 in fixed costs and expenses. Some of these costs include $25,500 in salary increases and $7,500 in benefits for professional staff, $11,500 for a 10-month student activities graduate assistant, $7,500 for a student media coordinator position and $1,500 for computer upgrades. $39,000 went to fund the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center coordinator position.
MSA received a $65,000 increase in student fee allocations from the Student Fee Review Committee, but this money had to be used to cover fixed costs.
Due to these fixed costs and expenses, the budget was at a $26,000 deficit. Another $60,000 was added to the deficit due to a dramatic decrease in estimated carryover funds. In previous years, carryover funds – unused funds that roll over from the previous fiscal year – totaled about $100,000. This year’s carryover, although originally estimated at $15,000, was $40,000, according to the proposed budget.
With an approximately $87,000 deficit, Vice President Zach Beattie had to make drastic cuts across the board. The most drastic of these cuts included cuts to student salaries and almost every MSA auxiliary budget.
The Senate will vote on the finalized budget April 10. The budget Beattie presented to the Full Senate for its first reading featured controversial cuts to MSA auxiliaries.
One controversial cut was to STRIPES, which was decreased from $73,000 to $63,000, according to the budget. The $63,000 budget would bring the STRIPES budget back to levels during the 2010-2011 fiscal year budgets. Beattie said he recommends that STRIPES focuses on short-term fundraising to pay for advertisements, supplies, and increases in gasoline and vehicle rental costs.
Another controversial cut was decreasing the Craft Studio budget from $113,000 to $108,000. If campus-wide staff salary increases are not included, the Craft Studio’s budget is actually decreased to $105,000.
Cuts to both STRIPES and the Craft Studio created protest among some MU students, some of whom created Facebook pages in support of the two programs.
Beattie said that although STRIPES and the Craft Studio’s budgets are decreasing, the cuts should encourage the auxiliaries to become self-sufficient and to increase fundraising.
All other auxiliaries received cuts including a nearly $5,000 decrease for MUTV, $8,000 for KCOU, $1,000 for MSA/GPC Box Office, $1,000 for MSA/GPC Tech and $2,000 for the Student Design Center. The design center decrease includes its graphic designer staff salary increase.
Tiger Pantry will receive no money in the 2014 fiscal year budget despite an original plan to create a $2,000 operating budget.
The only auxiliary that did not receive an overall funding cut was the RSVP Center because it received money to fund the coordinator’s salary. However, it received approximately $7,000 in cuts to supplies and other expenses.
The budget features $22,000 in cuts to student salaries. The positions receiving decreases include the MSA president, vice president, senate speaker, student activities director, student communications director, student services director, legislative advocacy officer, KCOU general manager, MUTV general manager, Board of Elections Commissioners chairman and STRIPES director. The MSA senate clerk’s salary was completely cut.
The Department of Student Services received a decrease of about $4,000. Its new budget of $2,300 will have to cover a planned business attire lending program, teachers assistant choice awards, safety walk and any other new services.
The Department of Student Communications’ budget was decreased by $3,000. The director of student communications will move more advertising online to cut down on printing costs and will take on advertising for additional MSA departments.
The Department of Student Activities was cut by about $6,000, including the 10-month graduate assistant.
Bike Share was given $2,600 to cover bike repairs and replacement costs.
Summer programming, which was allocated $10,000 in the budget, was cut and will now be paid for by a separate fund from Dr. Mark Lucas, the Department of Student Life director, and Kathy Murray, the assistant director.
“Luxury items” were cut across the board, Beattie said. These luxury items include cutting all travel budgets and most food budgets, as well as cutting the MSA Senate jacket retention program, which was created to increase senator attendance. These types of cuts created a $7,000 decrease in the MSA Senate’s budget and a $3,000 decrease in the student government advisor’s budget.
Student Legal Services was cut by about $500, but is expected to generate $10,000 in revenue because MSA will begin charging students $10 to see the student legal adviser. Anyone who is unable to pay the $10 could apply to have the fee covered by MSA.
The Web Development team received about $4,000 in increases mainly due to professional staff salary increases.
To account for budget cuts, Aregbe told the Senate it was up to them to promote MSA services that are important to students, especially STRIPES.
“Turn that focus from where everyone is trying to scrap for money to something where we reach out to Columbia and the businesses in Columbia, parents, alumni,” Aregbe said. “Ask them to send us a few dollars to help fund STRIPES. That’s the kind of attitude we need to have in order to be successful.”
