SAC finds modest satisfaction with release of Gen. Fee data

Student government groups finally got an answer yesterday to the question they've been asking repeatedly for over two years -- but it wasn't quite the answer they were looking for. University Budget Director Mike Masch paid a visit to last night's Student Activities Council meeting to detail how the General Fee students pay alongside their tuition is distributed throughout the University's budget. Masch's presentation came in response to a SAC ultimatum issued last month giving administrators until October 8 to provide information on what becomes of General Fee revenue that does not go to student groups. At last night's meeting in Stiteler Hall, he broke down allocations of the General Fee by "responsibility centers" -- departments and divisions of the University, each of which must maintain their own balanced budgets. Responsibility centers that draw General Fee money include the Finance Division, which oversees Student Financial Services; the Annenberg Center, which includes student performing arts; and Student Activities, which is run by the Office of the Vice Provost of University Life. SAC Chairperson Steve Schorr stressed that most of the specific information his organization had requested was not provided. "The money was broken down into the specific departments that spend the money, but we still don't know how those departments spend the money," the Wharton senior said. Masch told SAC members that he "cannot say with the same level of knowledge and detail where every single dollar goes." The central budget office sets limits on what each center can spend, but does not allocate the funding within each center's individual budget, he said. "That's the job of the responsibility centers," Masch said. He urged student leaders to question VPUL Valerie Swain-Cade McCoullum about the allocation of funding for student activities, for example. But Schorr said he has turned to several specific divisions -- like the Athletic Department, the Admissions office and the VPUL office -- in the last two years to no avail. "I previously went to some of the departments, and they were all unwilling to give any information on how they spend the money," Schorr said. "They said that I should ask the administration for that information." Schorr said Masch answered SAC's questions better than other administrators have in the past, but added that the information is "still not to our satisfaction." Now SAC will await results of a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the federal Department of Health and Human Services. That information should arrive sometime this week. "I hope that will include information on how the departments spend their money," Schorr said. Under FOIA, citizens may conduct a search of any federal agency. The University is not a federal agency, but it conducts enough financial transactions with the federal government -- such as requesting research grants or financial aid funding -- that information on the budget would be available. The FOIA office filters through the information it finds and decides what it is legally allowed to release to the public. After Masch's presentation, SAC members elected new officers for the body's executive board. There are nine board members, including the Undergraduate Assembly treasurer, with half elected in October and half in February. Since one member resigned earlier this year, five seats were up for election last night. Out of the eight people who ran, the winners were College sophomore Jason Ackerman, Wharton junior Sang Cha, Engineering and College junior Vanessa Moses, Wharton junior Erick Wollschlager, and College sophomore Charles Howard.