Building on weeks of work, student government officers approved a final version of the student government budget for the 2005-06 school year at Monday's Board of Governance (BOG) meeting.
The budget allotted $4,000 to BOG, $63,900 to the Student Activities Board (SAB), $13,000 to the Student Diversity Board, $12,000 to the Residence Hall Association and $5,000 to the Student Academic Council.
This year's budget, $204,900, is $1,800 less than last year's total of $206,700 due to decreased enrollment, executive treasurer Jillian Waters said. Each student pays a $150 student government fee, and low enrollment numbers in recent years have impacted the budget, Waters said.
While larger than the Class of 2008, the Class of 2009 is still smaller than the graduated Class of 2005. This past spring, the fall enrollment was projected to be 1,379 students, Waters said, but the actual number of students was 1,366.
"The total budget went down but not by too much," Waters said. "Things are gradually getting better with enrollment, but we are still recovering [from the previous three years]."
All the student government branches, with the exception of SAB, suffered a decrease in their allotments for the 2005-06 year. The SAB total increased by $3,900.
Club allotments were undetermined, Waters said, but will be known by the beginning of next week.
Board members also discussed ways to re-energize campus response toward Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Working with the Office for Civil and Social Engagement and its director Carrie Call, BOG organized blood drives and fundraisers in the days following the natural disaster in New Orleans. The difficulty now, members said, is keeping students motivated.
"I actually talked to Carrie Call and she felt we should give an incentive to the students ... we could raise a lot of money that way," tri-campus commissioner Shannon McManus said. "She didn't just want to ask the students to give anymore because people are getting sick of just giving."
Board members suggested a variety of drives including collecting school supplies and creating T-shirts and donating the profits to hurricane victims.
Senior class president Lauren Condon suggested a shirt that would prompt a little "peer pressure" to contribute.
