UPDATED: May 6, 2017 at 1:18 p.m.

The Student Association on Monday approved just over $2 million in funding for fall 2017 programming, with the largest allocated budgets going to University Union, Student Legal Services, Inc. and CitrusTV.

Registered student organizations’ budget requests totaled $3,477,101.91 for fall 2017 programming, according to budget documents presented at the meeting. SA had $2,955,000.00 available to allocate to student organizations for the fall 2017 semester, with $50,000 left for RSOs that appeal the Finance Board’s non-funded budget requests.

University Union received $868,348.65, about 29 percent of the total funding available for fall 2017 programming. Student Legal Services, Inc. received $199,857.14 and CitrusTV received $91,033.86 to cover their operating expenses.

Malik Evans, SA’s comptroller, said the Finance Board included a stipulation in SLS’s budget request that stated SLS must give monthly reports about the number of students they are seeing, the amount of time they are spending on cases and the types of cases they are working on.

In March, President Eric Evangelista announced he had discovered the existence of an SLS advisory board after SLS requested roughly $300,000 in funding from SA and the university’s Graduate Student Organization. Evangelista said at the time he was concerned about SLS because they did not collect billable hours — a time sheet that details the amount of work a lawyer does for clients.

Evans said the Finance Board will enforce the collection of billable hours in the future.

The Finance Board did not fund SA’s operating budget request, which totaled $113,677.90. According to the budget documents, the Finance Board did not fund SA’s request because the budget proposal had “outdated proof of costs.”

According to the Finance Board documents, SA can submit an updated budget request. Evangelista said in a later interview that SA’s budget proposal will go through the appeals process with updated proofs of cost and that he did not anticipate that the appeals process would impede SA’s abilities to fund campus programs.

Student organizations who do not have their budgets funded can appeal to the Finance Board with updated budget requests. Partially-funded budgets cannot appeal, Evans said.

“Most campus publications have a slight decrease (in funding),” Evans said. That’s because the Finance Board funded cheaper quote options that lowered the costs of the publications, Evans added.

The SA assembly will vote on appeals at the April 10 meeting, according to the funding schedule posted on SA’s website.

 

Other Business

Alexander Lynch, a community safety and security analyst for SU’s Department of Public Safety, briefed the assembly about plans to install surveillance cameras in the neighborhoods surrounding SU. Currently, $94,000 has been raised by SA and other donors to install six cameras on Euclid Avenue and two on Stratford Street.

Because DPS does not have jurisdiction over off-campus property, the installation of the cameras must be approved by the Syracuse Common Council. If approved, the Syracuse Police Department will operate the cameras.

Some assembly members voiced concerns about the future of the camera project because Lynch did not answer questions at the meeting about about the plans to maintain the cameras. Although the cost of the cameras is being funded mainly by groups affiliated with SU, the cameras will be the property of SPD and it will be SPD’s responsibility to maintain the cameras, Lynch said.

Lynch’s contract with DPS ends in May, he said.

“There have been no official decisions made yet on how (the project) will move forward once I am gone,” Lynch said.

Once Lynch leaves, Evangelista said he will make sure his successors maintain the same level of engagement and involvement in the project to ensure that the camera initiative continues and improves.

SA relaunched the Cycle Share program Monday. The program allows students to rent a bicycle or tricycle for 24 hours. Two adaptive cycles, which were hand delivered Sunday, will help ensure that students with disabilities can participate in the program.

Joyce LaLonde, SA’s vice president, said at least 50 students tried the adaptive cycles. Every student that shared a cycle in the Cycle Share program’s relaunch had not previously shared a cycle before, LaLonde said.

Published on April 4, 2017 at 1:07 am

Contact Jordan: jmulle01@syr.edu | @jordanmuller18