In an effort to meet the needs of students more effectively, the Undergraduate Student Association at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry will undergo a makeover this year.

The association will see a budget increase of 70 percent, from $104,000 to $170,000, and overhaul its financial procedures with the help of a newly formed independent financial board. Elections are being held Wednesday to Friday to choose new officials to lead the association in its transformation.

The financial board, which will operate for the first time this year, is comprised of undergraduate students who have not been involved with the association. These students will review budgets and past expense reports from clubs and organizations, said Benjamin Schott, a senior environmental studies major and current president of the association.

“We have an independent group of students with an unbiased perspective on how to spend the money next year,” he said.

In previous years, the association gathered informally to decide where the money should go, Schott said.

In addition to the new finance board, the association will have an increased budget. The ESF student body voted last semester to approve a $25 increase per semester on the student activity fee, bringing it to $140, which will provide the money for the increased budget.

Kevin Phu, a sophomore chemistry major and uncontested treasurer candidate, is confident the budget increase and new financial procedures will allow for better programming and bigger events on campus.

The new budget and financial procedures will allow organizations to have the capacity to put on bigger events. One of the bigger events students can expect to see is an expanded Earth Week, Schott said.

Groups that collaborate with other organizations to participate in off-campus community involvement or innovative programming will have a greater chance of seeing increased funds, Phu said. In spite of the new review procedures, it is not likely that any groups will see reduced funding.

“From the request we’ve seen, we are on track to fund every group,” Phu said.

The financial overhaul has been a long time coming, Schott said.

“Since 1912, there’s been no guidelines, no procedure or guided instructions on how you apply for funding,” Schott said. “The whole relationship between clubs, recognized organizations and (the association) is changing.”

Schott said he hopes changes in the past year and upcoming year will give the association more recognition and allow it to evolve into a more legitimate, professional organization.

“It’s been very casual and very grassroots and that has worked for the campus so far, but the campus is changing and we have to change with them,” Schott said.

Juniors, seniors and alumni have voiced concern that the campus is lacking in the ideals of community service and involvement that it was built on, Schott said. The association plans to raise student engagement back to where it was in previous years by using the budget expansion to make student organizations more attractive.

The association is holding elections, which began Wednesday, but all the positions are uncontested. Eugene Law, a sophomore environmental resource and forest engineering major, is running uncontested for the presidency position.

“I think I’m going to pick up where Ben’s leaving off,” Law said. “We’ve worked really closely together this year.”

Law is currently the ESF-SU liaison, and he said he hopes to implement successful practices he has observed at SU’s Student Association. ESF’s association will implement a more professional atmosphere through stricter operating rules, as seen in SA, he said.

This will allow for the needs of the majority to be met while preserving the rights of the minority, Law said. ESF’s association will also incorporate aspects of SA’s budgeting procedures into the new finance plan.

Law said the relationship between the two universities has been strengthened, and he hopes to help make the bond even stronger. There has even been a decrease in the rivalry between SU and ESF students, Law said.

“I think that stigma has been decreased as the environmental movement has become more popular,” Law said.

Because of society’s growing concern with environmental issues, the face of ESF’s campus is changing to include people considered different from traditional students, Law said.

“We’re not all hippies and lumberjacks,” he said. “We’ve increased diversity here and that allows us to better work with people from other communities.”

One of his goals as president is to engage the campus in celebrating ESF’s centennial year, Law said.

“ESF is turning 100, and I want that to be as big of a deal as it should be,” Law said.

Though all of the positions are being uncontested, it’s not due to a lack of interest, Law said. Interested students decided amongst themselves who would be best suited for each position, maneuvering around the need for head-to-head races, he said.

Although there has not been a lack of interest among students previously involved in the association, there haven’t been many newcomers, which Law attributes to people being put off by the rebuilding process.

“When we became a serious government organization,” Law said, “some people weren’t into that.”

 

Published on April 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm