Gavel in hand, junior Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate Treasurer and Allocations Board (ALBO) Chair Michele Shelton reviewed recommended funds for Concert Board and Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO). In the large conference room of the campus center, the home of weekly Senate meetings, official decisions for ECO spending and Spring Fling's budget were made at this meeting, culminating in unanimous votes from all Senate members.
Nine ALBO council chairmen had previously approved the recommended $10,000 fund for the Spring Fling concert. This amount comes from the "buffer fund," an additional source of money that complements a group's yearly budget.
February always demands action from ALBO - budgets for the coming academic year are typically settled during this time. Every recognized Tufts organization must present ALBO with a detailed proposal that accounts for everything - down to the number of ads envisioned for the coming year - to be included in their desired budget. The groups must also describe the benefits they expect to gain from each item on the proposed budget.
Each club must meet with the ALBO chair responsible for representing their council to the greater Senate body. The largest student organizations (over 300 members), the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS), for example, belongs to the community service council, while the Concert Board falls under the social programming council. Other councils cover areas such as culture, media, religion, or pre-professional organizations.
After budget proposals are submitted, the ALBO chairmen, with the exception of the TCU treasurer, vote on the actual amount that each club should receive. Voting occurs on a weekly basis, and each meeting centers on a particular budget, such as buffer funding, capital expenditure (all budgets over $100), or new group funding. When groups make their particular request, ALBO asks for a copy of their potential budget for inspection.
Of course, budgets must be reasonable. Clubs normally request funds in excess of their actual need, and ALBO determines which items it considers unnecessary. For example, the Concert Board's originally requested $15,000 this year, but ALBO lowered that amount. Last year's sum was only $6,600.
Decisions are difficult, and according to a member of LCS, take much too long. The budget process for LCS began two weeks ago and will continue until the end of March, with money amounts going back and forth many times between club representatives and ALBO chairs.
Another member of LCS, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was frustrated with the length of the process and the final amount granted. However, LCS has incremented its current budget request for good reason - club expansion.
The money ALBO determines to distribute comes from the students themselves. Sophomore Sarah Sandison, TCU assistant treasurer, explained that funds are drawn from the student activity fee, which all undergraduates are required to pay. "It's not our money, but everyone's money - we're just the people that are elected to make sure it's distributed fairly," she said.
Shelton agrees. "ALBO is a fair body to groups," she said.
In fact, no appeals resulting from ALBO decisions have been raised in the past two years, and ALBO has not denied funding to any group this year. Sophomore Raji Iyer, who handles the budgets of the Pan African Alliance, Tufts Association of South Asians, and other culture groups, says that chair members must be equitable and cannot let their personal opinions on whether a club should be recognized influence their decisions. "We cannot tell them how to spend it," Iyer added.
Both Shelton and Sandison agree that funding decisions are a cooperative effort, not a one-on-one battle among representatives. It involves preparation and organization brought about with weekly conferences.
Though the tasks that ALBO faces may seem a bit dry, Shelton's enjoys her work. "It's a combination of money and politics. People come in everyday - I love it," she said., adding that her interest in the treasury began freshman year with her orientation Perspectives leader, the TCU treasurer at the time.
In addition to the money and power, Sandison enjoys the social aspect of ALBO. "Interacting with us are so many people you would not meet in any other situation," she said.
