SAC groups call for OSL reform

Groups receiving University funding from the Student Activities Council have been displeased with the aid they have received through the Office of Student Life. The general consensus among SAC-funded organizations is that Lynn Moller, financial administrator for Student Activities, is overloaded with work -- causing budgeting and advising delays and inadequate monitoring of group spending. Moller and her part-time assistant Sharon Klingsberg are responsible for advising approximately 130 SAC groups. Undergraduate Assembly Treasurer and College sophomore Steve Schorr said Moller's workload prevents her from efficiently overseeing the spending of SAC funds. "It would be physically impossible for Lynn to check everything that comes through," said Schorr. "It would be possible if she had more help." SAC groups have also complained about the backlog in Moller's office, at the same time asserting that Moller is working overtime and doing her best. "She's definitely overworked," Kite and Key Treasurer and College junior Allison O'Brien said. "She has been wonderful to our group, but she definitely needs help." And Senior Class President Lenny Chang, a Wharton senior, agreed. "She does have a backlog, and we are all very aware of it," Chang said. "She is only one person. Under the circumstances she's done the best she could for us." Moller corroborated these claims of backlog, explaining that Human Resources did a study of her office a few years back and reported that she needed a full-time assistant. Moller said she is under pressure since there are so many SAC groups, and while students want certain services, her superiors often desire different results. But Moller said there are problems with hiring new assistants. "The work is really seasonal and it's hard to hire someone for that," she said. Director of Student Life, Activities and Facilities Fran Walker said it would be premature to hire new staff. According to Walker, Executive Vice President John Fry is conducting an internal review of the financial and administrative divisions of University Life. "Since that is in progress, I don't know what recommendations they will make or if those recommendations will be feasible in a University that is downsizing," she said. "It is possible that there will be shifts in responsibilities in the Office of Student Life as a result of the review," she added. Walker did admit that it is difficult for the current staff to handle the volume of paperwork. She also said she hopes new computerized methods of financial management will lessen Moller's load. This system will allow requisitions and other paperwork to be carried out electronically. But not all SAC members agree that additional employees would be beneficial. Steering Chairperson and College senior Graham Robinson said he is not sure the benefits outweigh the costs. "Hiring 'another Lynn' would fix a lot of problems, though it would cost a lot of money," Robinson said. "It would have to create an efficiency in SAC that would equal the cost, which I don't feel it will." Robinson added that helping SAC groups with their budgets and preventing funding misuse is not really the job Moller was hired to do. "Moller was hired to make sure that SAC, in using University money, does not violate University regulations," he explained. "She also watches to make sure someone isn't stealing funds directly." The rest Moller does, according to Robinson, because "she is a nice person," and the University has not hired someone else to do it because she has taken on the extra responsibility. Robinson said he feels any misuse of funds stems from a lack of respect for SAC and that the solution is to rebuild SAC and not to hire someone else to police budgets. He added that the backlog has only been found in cases where the information or help was not needed immediately. Robinson suggested that the problem might be remedied by hiring a couple of work-study students to help Moller.

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