When senior Michele Shelton resigned from the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate last weekend, she left behind a treasury that is in better shape than it has been in years. In addition to streamlining the budget for campus groups, the Senate has made efforts to improve its internal finances.
This year, the Senate budgeted itself an operating sum of $46,575.84 from the student activity fee. The fees cover the extensive overhead the Senate incurs executing its constitutionally mandated duties throughout the year and during the summer. Only the largest TCU-funded groups, such as Hillel and the Leonard Carmichael Society, had budgets near the Senate's own.
Of that money, $22,738.84 makes up the Senate budget, which takes into account $800 of anticipated income from running airport shuttles before major breaks. This fund is used for programming expenses, office overhead, two Senate retreats, and various discretionary funds.
A separate $23,036 budget for TCU operations pays for the accountant the Senate retains and other miscellaneous office supplies. The Senate also gives individual $3,400 stipends to the incoming president and treasurer and the outgoing treasurer to cover the costs of staying at Tufts over the summer.
The stipends pay for the students to work between 15 and 20 hours per week to prepare for the upcoming year and covers personal expenses such as housing cost and meals. Former treasurer Michele Shelton said that many of those who stay over the summer do make additional money in outside jobs, but that all three were kept busy with senate duties.
"There's extensive training for the incoming treasurer; obviously you can't do that in two weeks," she said. "There's a lot of work that has to be done."
Detailed documents outlining the Senate's budget are available on its website, http://ase.tufts.edu/senate/. But many students were surprised to learn about the money the Senate spends on its own costs.
Some question the $2,500 expenditure that the Senate allocated for its biannual retreats at the Mountain Club's New Hampshire Loj. But senators defended the retreat, saying not all the money goes toward the retreat itself and that it is necessary to prepare for the year. "The retreat serves a really good purpose," former senator Benjamin Hayden said. "Though it might sound ridiculous to someone who is not part of the Senate, [it is] a real bonding time."
But the Primary Source Editor-in-Chief Sam Dangremond said that it was an excessive expenditure. In the past, the Source has claimed that it does not receive enough funds from the student activities budget.
"They get an all-expensive paid trip for a weekend. They say it promotes group unity, but heck, every group on campus would like to promote unity among its members," he said. "Just because they're the ones doling out the money they get to do it? That doesn't seem right to me."
However Dangremond defended the chairs of the allocations board (ALBO). "They are very fair; they're just trying to do their jobs," he said.
Vietnamese Student Club president Mary Ly saw her budget drop from $2,000 to $1,758 this year. She was surprised at the amount of the Senate's budget and felt that it should raise money as other groups do.
"We all have our retreats too, but we have to fundraise for them," she said. "I wish they would do more for the organizations with that money."
Though Shelton acknowledged the immense amount of money the Senate budgets itself, she said that it was well allocated. Part of her tenure with former President David Moon was spent reducing the bottom line and ensuring the Senate was solvent.
"The Senate has had a consistently high budget for years, and David and I have worked to reduce it," Shelton said.
Shelton required the Senate to bring in an income for the first time ever during her tenure. The Senate turned a profit with many of its events, such as the Thanksgiving airport shuttle - money that went directly back into the Senate treasury.
"We felt that the Senate, like any other group, should give money back to the group if we are making money," Shelton said.
The extra money allowed the Senate to sponsor special events, such as last year's concert by Jimmy's Chicken Shack. The concert was not on the Senate's agenda until the body realized there was enough money to organize it.
The Senate also uses its money to fund individual student events that generate income for charity. "When the Senate wasn't receiving income we couldn't be event-focused and charity-focused," TCU Senate Treasurer Ben Lee said. University funding distributed by the Senate could only be given to student groups for general funding. Finding new sources of funding was not the only improvement Shelton accomplished during her tenure. According to Lee, the Senate got a higher interest rate when it shifted its surplus fund from Fleet Bank to Citizens Bank. The increased income allowed the Senate to add $5,000 to the New Group Fund without dipping its budget surplus.
During the past few years, several new groups have formed, but the Senate has had difficulty funding them all.
Lee said he wanted to increase the visibility of the Senate as treasurer while building upon Shelton's work. He also attributed a lot of the improvements over the past year to Moon.
"Dave really increased the visibility of the Senate, which is something they were never able to do before," he said.
But Lee added that he would like to change the Senate's budgeting process, though he is waiting until he finishes the ALBO training process to draw up a definite plan.
"I'm trying to tweak it, I just haven't had a chance to think," he said. "One of the greatest challenges is helping groups stay on their budgets... I'm trying to work with the treasuries [of student groups] to help them be a little more accurate, keep accounts up to date, and spend their budget but not more than their budget."
