When Associated Student Government cut line items last year, there was outrage and concern from students who did not receive a meeting with ASG before their funds were slashed. According to ASG, an email informing the organizations of the cuts constituted a “meeting” and fulfilled ASG’s requirements.
ASG has updated their requirements this year, and an email blast to all organizations no longer constitutes a “meeting.”
“A representative or ad-visor of Associated Student Government will have a “meeting” with each organization that is listed in Article I Section 3.2,…(or) Line Item Organization, or any new organization that is interested in getting a line item,” accord-ing to ASG’s updated policy. “A ‘meeting’ shall be conduct-ed in person.”
The policy was updated last semester.
“We just felt like when we reviewed the policy last semester that from the start of the year when we first submit those financial documents it would be better to just meet with the line items in person so that we could both be on the same page about exactly what the numbers are saying on the papers,” said Michael Webb, ASG president and senior business administration major.“We felt that was the best way to be fiscally responsible on both ends.”
A plan to review the fiscal affairs policies had been around for awhile.
“The senate operations committee and the fiscal affairs committee had been planning since November or December that we were going to be reviewing all the fiscal affairs policies in the Spring and so it was something that we had been talking about all semester, even before every-thing happened at the end of March,” Webb said.
Line item paperwork for reviews of funds or increases is due Sept. 21, according to the ASG website.