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EMU committee crunches numbers
EMU Board of Directors Budget
Committee funds growth for
many programs on campus
Jennifer Bear
Campus/Federal Politics Reporter
Most people would think calculat
ing expenditures and balancing
budgets is an unappealing way to
spend an evening. But for the nine
members of the EMU Board of Direc
tors Budget Committee, deciding
how to spend 183,245,161 in student
incidental fees allows them to have
their cake and eat it too.
It hasn’t been all frosting, though.
Examining each budget to make
sure every dollar is properly invested
has proven to be a very challenging
task for the committee, because even
though most EMU services are in des
perate need of growth, the committee
is bound to a 7 percent maximum in
crease in student fee allocation. A
standard question at every budget
hearing has been, “If you had to take
out 2 percent from your budget,
where would you do it and how would
it affect the EMU as a whole?”
The committee had to set budgets
for 14 different EMU programs, but
EMU Food Services and The Break
don’t receive student incidental fee
money. The largest increases in stu
dent incidental fee allocation went
to University Scheduling and Infor
mation Services and the EMU Board
of Directors, which received increas
es of 17.85 percent and 18.31 per
cent, respectively. Administration
was given the smallest budget in
crease — 0.51 percent.
Budget Committee Chairwoman
Mle Gross, an art major with a focus
in metal smithing and photography,
has devoted a significant chunk of
her time to the budget committee.
Besides presiding over more than 50
hours of budget hearings, Gross took
time away from her winter break va
cation to meet for an hour with
every budget manager to discuss the
process. But despite all the extra
work and advance planning, Gross
said finding ways to fund growth for
all the EMU services seemed an un
reachable goal.
“As a committee, I think our biggest
challenge has been stretching the dol
lar,” she said. “There really just isn’t
enough to go around. It’s our job to try
to allocate money in a way that best
suits the needs of the students; how
ever, the needs of the students are
much greater than we can provide
with the funding that we have.”
Budget Committee at-large mem
ber Jake Holcombe said because of
the tight budget for next year, the
committee is trying to squeeze the
most out of every student incidental
fee dollar.
Holcombe is in his fifth year at the
University, what he calls his “super
senior year,” and is a double major
in history and economics. He first
became involved with the board his
junior year because he wanted to
feel a sense of ownership within the
University.
ASUO Executive representative
Donna Shefcheck joined the budg
et committee this year without
knowing anything about student
government. Shefcheck said the
committee’s greatest difficulty this
year has been getting new mem
bers up to speed. She added that
more than half of the people on the
board are new, and as a result,
there has sometimes been friction
between experienced members
and new members. Besides being a
committee member, Shefcheck is
also involved in the greek scene as
a member of Chi Omega, serves as
a Freshman Interest Group assis
tant for University Housing and
works at the Daily Grind.
“I over-commit,” Shefcheck joked.
EMU representative Windy Borman
also works as if there are more than
24 hours in the day. When she’s not
performing official committee duties,
she’s increasing the coolness ratio on
campus by organizing cultural events
for the University. Borman has en
ticed Tibetan monks and Margaret
Gho to UO Cultural Forum events,
produced and directed “The Vagina
Monologues” and choreographed
“Chicago: The Musical.” Currently
she’s working on bringing Maya An
gelou to McArthur Court on Feb. 23.
“I have always been a busy per
son, so if I had a lot of free time, I
wouldn’t know what to do with it,”
Borman said. “I think I’ve perfected
multi-tasking without having to sac
rifice my priorities.”
As the only faculty representative
on the committee this year, associ
ate University librarian Mark Watson
brings a fresh perspective to the
budgeting process. Watson has been
at the University for about 15 years
and said his personal strategy for al
locating money focuses on funding
EMU programs so that they provide
the greatest benefit to students.
EMU 2003-2004 budget allocation
$207,711 Outdoor
$243,249 Club
$155,461
Child
$82,621
Scheduling
$31,404
Ticket Office
$27,811
Event Services
$14,059
EMU Board
SOURCE: EMU consolidated budget 2003-04
“I am less worried about reducing
student fees than I am about making
sure that the EMU has what it needs
to provide outstanding service to
students and the campus communi
ty,” he said.
Finance senator Aryn Clark, a
native of Seaside, has been in
volved in student government since
her first term at the University
when she was an ASUO intern.
Clark said the greatest difficulty
she has faced while on the commit
tee wasn’t number crunching — it
was public speaking.
“I have had to become more vocal
in a public setting, something that I
am not used to doing,” she said.
Brenda Tincher, another finance
senator, is a graduate student in the
Not-For-Profit Management pro
gram at the University. Tincher was
chairwoman of the budget commit
tee last year and is well-versed in
art of budget allocation. She said
her greatest frustration has been
inefficiency at meetings when com
mittee members are unprepared to
make proposals.
The Emerald was not able to
arrange interviews with the final two
EMU budget committee members,
Kady-Ann Davy and Christa Shively,
despite repeated interview requests
by e-mail and telephone over a two
week period. The University Student
Directory lists Davy as a pre-psy
chology major and Shively as a
women’s studies major.
Contact the senior news reporter
atjenniferbear@dailyemerald.com.
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