ASSOCIATED STUDENTS UCLA

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Finance Committee Meeting

January 20, 2012 9:00 a.m. Ackerman Union 2408

PRESENT: Jacob Ferrari (Chair); Mike Jedlicka; Dave Lowenstein; Ryan Roberts; and Bob Williams, ASUCLA Executive Director

MANAGEMENT: Donna Baker, Director ASUCLA Financial Planning & Treasury; Cindy Bolton, ASUCLA Restaurants Director; Roy Champawat, ASUCLA Student Union Director; Rich Delia, ASUCLA Finance Director; and Jennifer Willis-Graves, (recorder).

GUESTS: Ronald Arruejo, USAC Finance Committee Chair; James Barragan, Daily Bruin; David Bocarsly, USAC General Representative; Amro Elatrozy, PricewaterhouseCoopers Engagement Manager; Raquel Saxe, USAC Academic Affairs Commissioner; Paul Sung, PricewaterhouseCoopers Engagement Partner; and Melissa Tuang, Daily Bruin.

CALL TO ORDER

This meeting was called to order at 9:01 a.m.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

As there were no objections the agenda was approved as distributed.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

HELD ON NOVEMBER 18, 2011

The minutes for this meeting were approved as distributed, without objection.

EXTERNAL AUDITOR’S REPORT

Mr. Paul Sung Pricewaterhouse Coopers Audit Partner, briefly reviewed the “Report to the Finance Committee on the Audit Status and Results for the year ended July 31, 2011”, including Required Communications to the Finance Committee, as well as management representation letters for each entity in the Association. Mr. Sung indicated that all Associated Students entities received clean reports, or unqualified opinions, with no material weaknesses.

At this point Mr. Lowenstein moved, seconded by Mr. Roberts to move to executive session. As there were no objections, the committee entered executive session at 9:07 a.m.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

When the committee returned from executive session at 9:58 a.m., Mr. Williams indicated that he would forego his report in the interest of time.

FINANCE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Mr. Delia also opted to forgo his report in the interest of time, and he noted that both he and Mr. Williams would provide complete reports at the Joint Operating Committee meeting that is attended by Finance Committee members which was scheduled to take place at noon on the day of this meeting.

ACTION & DISCUSSION ITEMS

Approval of FY 10/11 Audited Financial Statements

Mr. Lowenstein moved, seconded by Mr. Jedlicka, that the Finance Committee approve and recommend to the Board of Directors the approval of the FY 10-11 Audited Financial Statements for Services and Enterprises, Communications Board, Graduate Students’ Association, and UnderGraduate Students’ Association. This motion passed unanimously.

Approval of $200,000 Capital Investment for Music Café

After a brief discussion over the estimated return on investment and the saturation point for coffee concepts in the North Campus area, Mr. Lowensten moved, seconded by Mr. Ferrari to approve a $200,000 capital investment for the Ostin Music Café project. This motion passed unanimously.

Presentation by USAC regarding additional Programming Funds

Mr. Arruejo, Mr. Bocarsly and Ms. Saxe presented a request to the Finance Committee for $100,000 in additional funds to support programs for USAC student groups during the Winter and Spring quarters of this year. After a brief discussion of USAC accounting and funding structures, they explained that several important Fall programs which have historically been paid for using the prior year’s surplus were budgeted based upon historic surplus figures, and upon receipt of the actual surplus amount, the council found itself financially over-extended, such that spending on student group activities during the latter two quarters of the year must be cut by 50%-70%.

At the Services & Enterprises Board of Directors Services Committee meeting held on January 13, 2012, that committee moved to recommend to the Board of Directors to assist the USAC in its student programming mission by providing one-time additional funding on an immediate basis to the USAC Contingency Fund and the USAC/BOD Programming Fund subject to the approval by Finance Committee and at the level determined by the Finance Committee. Services Committee also instructed USAC to develop a written policy to reduce reliance on surplus in the future and present this policy to the Services & Enterprises Board of Directors prior to a vote on this action by the Board of Directors.

To address the instruction in the latter part of this motion, USAC met on Tuesday January 17, 2012 and developed the following statement:

“As the UnderGraduate Students’s Association Council, we commit to working toward drafting a referendum proposal for Spring 2012 that will generate student funds for programming adjusted for inflation over time. Council members are dedicated to finding a long-term solution for our financial crisis in the form of researching the impact of this referendum or other equivalent changes to our current economic situation.”

In addition, the council added the following language to the USAC Finance Committee guidelines:

“The Chair of the Finance Committee shall allocate USA Contingency Programming Funds in Fall Quarter, not to exceed 33% of the total funds in the original budget. This shall continue until the Chair has better knowledge of the upcoming year’s surplus and can make a more accurate judgment of the percent reduction necessary to maintain the fund throughout the year.”

And finally, in addition to the proposed referendum and guideline above, the council proposed the development of strategies to improve financial literacy among USAC members and student groups; as well as the development of external funding sources for the council and student groups such as corporate sponsorships or grants.

An extended discussion followed regarding the underlying processes that gave rise to this situation, as well as various remedies for preventing similar situations in the future. It was suggested that the council would benefit greatly by receiving accurate surplus calculations earlier in the academic year to facilitate more accurate budgeting. The committee also raised concerns about the political ramifications of approval of this request for additional funding, as well as the potential problems involved with setting a precedent by acceding to this request. It was also noted that historically, in the interest of equality, any financial support offered to the Under Graduate Students’ Association is also offered to the Graduate Students’ Association at a ratio of 1/3. (i.e. For any amount provided to USA, GSA shall receive 1/3 of the same.)

Mr. Delia suggested that perhaps this funding could be offered as a loan, to be paid back incrementally out of future years’ surpluses, however Mr. Champawat noted that this could be problematic in that it might create debt for future councils.

After much discussion, Mr. Lowenstein moved, seconded by Mr. Jedlicka that the Finance Committee recommends to the Board of Directors to assist USAC in its student programming mission by providing $75,000 in one time additional funding on an immediate basis to the USAC Contingency Fund and the USAC BOD Programming Fund. The Board of Directors Finance Committee has also reviewed the recently approved change to USAC Finance Committee guidelines regarding the allocation of the USAC Constancy Programming Fund in the fall quarter 2012. In addition, the Board of Directors Finance Committee also recommends that management work with the necessary personnel to provide USAC with the information on surplus amount for the upcoming year earlier than they have in the past. This motion passed with three assenting votes and one dissenting vote.

ADJOURNMENT

As there were no objections, this Finance Committee meeting adjourned at 11:09 a.m.

Finance Committee Meeting Page 2

January 20, 2012