ASUN may increase fees while losing focus on why it exists
When President Milton Glick asked the Board of Regents for a $5 per credit surcharge to keep the budget balanced next year, the Associated Students of the University of Nevada saw a great opportunity to get more money for the student government.
Instead of having the $5 per credit go to the university’s budget, ASUN has asked President Glick to have the $5 in exchange for the $3.38 per credit it gets this year and $4.38 it will get next year. This would give ASUN annual budgets of $1.2 million and $1.45 million respectively.
This exchange would go through the Board of Regents, the group that is Glick’s boss and runs the university. If this deal happens, it would have several important implications for students.
Firstly, during budget crunches, ASUN – not the university president – would be responsible for defending its money. Secondly, when ASUN wants more money, it will be ASUN’s responsibility to go to the Board of Regents to get it.
But the most important implication is that ASUN is asking for an increase of 62 cents per credit, or about 13 percent of the current budget, with no plan on how to spend it.
The student government is asking for more money just because they want more money. They’ve shown no need for it. They’ve created no plan for how to spend it. This is a disservice to the university and the students of the University of Nevada, Reno.
It’s not that ASUN can’t provide services with this money. The problem lies in the fact that students are being taxed more without any promise of new services. There was little public discussion on why the money was needed. The student government also failed to discuss the new tax with students.
What is most concerning about ASUN getting more money without promising future services is that ASUN has started to become a very top-heavy organization. Earlier this year, the senate approved three new administrative faculty positions for ASUN which takes the cost of administrative faculty salaries from about $260,000 to almost $500,000. This is in addition to nearly $70,000 in elected and appointed officer compensation.
With a budget of between $1.45 million and $1.7 million next year, ASUN will be spending around one-third of its budget on advising positions. Many argue there is a real need for these positions based on ASUN’s growing services, but ASUN is primarily a student government and should be structured like one.
The services provided by the government should be run by students as best as possible. The student government is getting more money while also losing focus of why it exists – namely, a place for students to gain leadership experience and to engage students.
It’s time the student government and its advisors remember what ASUN is here for.
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March 4th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
This coming from a guy that threw a brick at an ASUN van.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Anonymous,
I’m sorry I fail to see how Shane’s correct opinion on ASUN taking money without plans on how to spend that money, shares a nexus with the irrelevant incident that you mentioned. At least if your going to try and destroy Shane’s credibility with an event that everyone on campus already knows about you could have the balls of doing it with your name. I suppose you’re of the position that ASUN should be able to tax students back to the stone age with no plans or need for it, just to serve an egotistical belief that the executive and legislative branches’ collective penis is as large as their budget?