Stony Brook’s Undergraduate Student Government has just passed it’s updated 2016-2017 budget in which more than $3 million was split among various clubs, organizations and departments.
Clubs and student-run organizations receive the largest portion of the USG Budget, ringing up to$1.1 million. “We spent almost one-third of our budget on clubs that directly interact with our students,”USG President Cole Lee said. “This is the most critical mission of USG.”
The biggest price tags among the clubs are lead by Ice Hockey, with a 2016-17 budget of $99,999.99, followed by Men’s Rugby at $64,000 and Roller Hockey at $42,000. The majority of undergraduate professional societies received $1,000 to $4,000 and most other clubs received $10,000 to $20,000, such as Pocket Theater and LGBTA receiving $15,386 and $11,957 respectively.
While finishing the budget, USG encountered an unexpected request when Campus Recreation came asking for help to keep the university’s intramural sports fully funded. Funds originally meant for intramural sports were lost due to a budget crunch from the mandatory minimum wage increase and the purchase of new equipment. Faced with the risk of losing half of intramural club members due to the lack of funding, Campus Recreation approached the Undergraduate Student Government for assistance.
“We do have a significant amount of unallocated funds,” Lee said, following an inquiry about where the money would come from. Prior to the assistance to Campus Recreation, upwards of $100,000 remained unallocated in the USG’s budget. Campus Recreation received an additional $2,500 in order to fund the intramural teams, but went further by answering an additional request from Campus Recreation to provide the funding need for their annual ski trip, to the tune of $3,200 dollars.
Another $340,000 went to contracted student organizations, such as the Stony Brook Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Campus Recreation and Child Care Services. A further $190,000 is being used to provide grants. Most of the remaining USG budget is split between its in-house agencies and operating expenses at $800,000, administration costs that include insurance, payroll and stipends for USG officials at about $630,000, and a Faculty Student Association fee of $260,000.
In all, the students who have been elected to and staff USG preside over a budget of $3.43 million, courtesy of your annual undergraduate fees.
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