UA investigates general fee allocation

Passes resolution requesting officials reveal budget The Undergraduate Assembly unanimously passed a motion last night requesting that the University Treasurer and Budget Office allow the body to examine the budget allocating student General Fee revenue. The resolution was co-sponsored by the Graduate and Professional Student Association, which unanimously passed the same resolution last week. The General Fee is paid as part of tuition by all Penn students. The revenues from the fee are intended to finance essential facilities and services. For undergraduates, the fee is $1,674 a year. Graduate students pay $1,278 and professional students pay $1,008. The two student government bodies want to examine the budget in order to clear up several major discrepancies in reports of General Fee revenue allocations, according to UA Treasurer and College sophomore Steve Schorr. The Budget Office and the University Treasurer's office both have complete records of allocations made from the approximately $25 million accrued from the General Fee. But according to Schorr, the two offices' records do not match. They even disagree on the exact revenue from the fee, with the Budget Office recording $24.5 million, while the Treasurer's assessment tips the scales at $25 million. The bulk of the fee goes to the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life. But while the Budget Office claims to give VPUL $17.8 million, the Treasurer and VPUL Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, said VPUL only receives $13.5 million. Schorr said he also found discrepancies in athletic funding, with the Budget Office claiming $2 million and the Treasurer stating $3.2 million. The Budget Office also listed $2 million for ResNet and $2.4 for one-time expenses. But the Treasurer's Office allocated only $1.3 million for ResNet and nothing for one-time expenses. In addition, between the 9,000 undergraduates and 13,000 graduate and professional students, General Fee revenues should amount to more than $30 million. While the Budget Office and the Treasurer's Office would give Schorr a brief listing of their expenditures, both offices refused to allow him to see a copy of the budget, prompting the UA and GAPSA to co-sponsor the resolution. Schorr explained that the UA hopes to represent the students interest by passing this resolution. "The main reason we are doing this is because undergraduates are constantly being told that there is not enough money to support what they want," he said. "They deserve to see how well the money they pay is spent. "There is a lot of misinformation being distributed, therefore it is important that we see the budget," he added.

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