“At the end of last year, a bucket of money was discovered that had been collecting for years from left over Senate money,” said Senate President Joe Pelcher at the Sept. 24 Community Senate meeting scheduled to discuss a policy to access the $359,421 discovered at the end of last year. “Tonight we want to come up with a policy so that money will not be abused.”The “bucket of money” Pelcher refers to is the rollover fund. This fund consists of all money held in the student general fund that is left over from the current fiscal year. These funds come from the portion of student tuition reserved for student activity fees.
The initial policy proposed would require all rollover fund money to be spent on permanent on-campus projects that benefit the entire student body. It would also require all future projects to be approved through unanimous consent, and drawing no more than 20 percent of the total fund per academic year.
Many senators, however, held issue with some vagueness within the initial policy.
Early in the meeting, several students including senior Sara Eisenberg were concerned by the loose definition of a “permanent project” and suggested that the proposal re-evaluate that definition. Students suggested a wide array of different projects that could potentially be funded by the rollover fund, ranging from temporarily covering faculty and staff positions to potentially creating an enhanced student center.
“Students are afraid that rollover fund money will only be used for physical objects,” said senior Dan Jimenez. “People want more than just physical arbitrary things.”
Senior Tory Mallett suggested that the definition of a permanent project be left up to each individual senator to decide.
Another issue brought up at the meeting was campus involvement in the appropriations process. Since the money is meant for projects that will affect the entire student body, one student suggested that all of the student body have a vote in deciding how the money should be allocated.
Karl Floitgraf suggested an open forum so that everyone could come and voice their concerns.
Another major issue that was brought to the table in the senate meeting was the idea of responsible investment of the rollover fund. Some students suggested investing a portion of the funds so that it will last longer.
“I would like to see a proposal to invest five percent of the rollover fund annually,” said senior Shep Lashley.
“I’m all for being fiscally responsible and putting money aside,” said Mallett. “But if this year’s students want something, they should get it, because that’s first and foremost.”
Despite different opinions on how the roll-over fund policy should be written, many senators agreed that it was important not to come to a rushed decision coming up with a policy. Therefore, after several weeks of unresolved deliberation, the roll-over fund proposal has been sent to an ad-hoc committee.
According to Senate Treasurer Will Vormelker, this temporary committee will convene, consider the concerns raised at Senate meetings, and create a new policy proposal to bring to Senate for a vote.
“It’s important that (the roll-over fund policy) gets passed,” said Lashley. “This money has high potential for great use and impacting the Guilford community positively.