ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF

IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY

FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

CLEARWATER room 5:30PM

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 5:30pm by Finance Committee Chair Kyle Woodhouse.

ROLL CALL

ASISU Secretary, Emily Koskella, took roll. All Finance Committee Members were present. MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 9, 2009. Spencer/Allbright. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED. MOVE TO APPROVE THE AGENDA. Butticci/Saltzman . Unanimous called. MOTION CARRIED.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Senator Woodhouse announced that he would like the meeting to stay in order today.

ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE

VP Butticci announced the ASISU banquet is April 29, 2009

OLD BUSINESS

1.  IAC Presentation—Stewart Summers, Donna Lybecker. They appreciate the committee letting them come. They prepared a packet for every member of the committee. They want the committee to understand how the organization works and also some of the highlights and why the program is important to the university. It brings international expertise to Pocatello. The Frank Church Symposium has been a legacy and tradition. The symposium is one of only 10 student run and organized symposiums in the nation. It meets the great international interaction and brings global expertise. The symposium receives national and international recognition. There was an article in New York Times about the IAC. One of the goals is to provide education to students. It fits is with the ASISU constitution. At the last meeting, all the seats were filled, which is around 250 people. Over 800 students attended panel discussions last year. All meetings take place in the Salmon River suite. It is a legacy of 40 years at ISU and the longest student organized symposium in the nation. Cutting it would be detrimental to the university. Senator Saltzman is impressed with the massive turnout. He asked why they aren’t charging the public. Many keynotes and panel discussion speakers are from their own state, and the likelihood of people being willing to pay is very low. The ones that come are those who already support university activities. ISU is a community university. They may look into charging in the future if it is in the correct positioning. Finance Officer Woodhouse asked if it would be beneficial if they had a donation bin. A program of this magnitude is indeed expensive. A few donations at the door couldn’t really fund it. One benefactor of ISU said she would rather put her money into IAC than scholarships. There are many that would want to help, but they are already helping in other ways. There are people who would probably be willing to donate but the decision of where to donate needs to be made. Donna Lybecker wants to strengthen the university. She thinks the committee has control over their budget. There are positives and negatives. Economic decisions need to be made. Senator Woodhouse was impressed and he asked about advertising and if they recognize ASISU. They always thank ASISU. On programs and posters, ASISU is always recognized. There is a list of all the different departments and colleges the IAC students come from. There are two big sponsors listed, and then a few that remained anonymous. They have received donations in the form of flowers, etc. Pocatello Speedway has even sponsored an event for IAC. Finance Officer Woodhouse said there were rumors in the past that IAC has done some “wining and dining” and not so prudent affairs. They do a lot of wining and dining in talking to talk the prices down. They receive amenities for half the cost of what Chartwell’s would cost. They receive discounts on hotels, plaques, etc. Presentation wise, it looks better to have a little better quality. It looks bad for ISU to stay at motels for example. Senator Woodhouse asked if the whole committee goes out to eat. It is only the people that come and speak and a few members of the organization. Some people come out for a few days to speak, so they must be taken care of. They do have IAC members there as well to be able to interact with delegates. Senator Saltzman asked how many of these people that attend their meetings are repeat attendees. They have tried to figure that out with surveys but do not have the numbers. Each topic is a little different. This year is focused on energy. Their panels don’t run with the class schedule. Senator Saltzman asked if there is a reason they don’t run with class schedules and could more be done at night. They should probably look at that. That is a good suggestion. President Spencer is going through the budget process; everyone is going to take a hit. This year, there are a handful of things they should have done last year that they didn’t. There are clubs and orgs that fundraise a lot. It’s not fair to compare, but he feels strongly that this group has to start finding independent money. Activity fees are getting cut 9%. It isn’t inappropriate to charge. They need data. President Spencer recommended they should restructure and elect a fundraiser or advancement officer. They should have their benefactors speak with Pres Vailas and Dr. Tingey. He doesn’t agree with cutting them, but they need to find a different funding model to take some of the burden off of students. Senator Johnson asked if they have a cost-per-student ratio. The cost per student is about $25 overall. Senator Woodhouse said he is impressed and they changed his mind.

2.  SAB Presentation—Val Davids. Diana Lamb, Aaron McCabe. They are here to bring numbers. The cost is $275 on average per student. There was a coffee brews with local vocals concert series every other Tuesday last semester where there would be an acoustic concert at the Rendezvous. Students want concerts. They had eight different concerts. They learned from that. Ryanhood came last week. Idaho Falls SAB booked them as well, so it lowered the overall concert fee. They are looking at less local bands and more fairly known up and coming bands. Travel is a big cost for bands. They have had a mentalist, chainsaw juggler/comedian, and are planning on bigger concerts with better turnout. They are trying different things from fine arts to bengal pride. They try to keep everything free for students. There were only two events costing more than $5 last fall. One of the problems is there are not as many people or stores that are donating as much. Senator Saltzman asked what the mentalist cost. It was about $2200. He asked why True Bengal cost anything. They had provided hot chocolate and lighting. Senator Saltzman asked why there hasn’t there been more free food on the quad like previous years. They are trying to figure out where the students are. They will have things at the Rendezvous or the SUB and they’ll miss students. On the movies, they are bringing back the foreign films with very good responses from professors from the language department. Senator Woodhouse thanked them.

3.  Scott Turner—Cuts are being made everywhere. The condition of the state got worse. He has a suggestion under certain line items to assign them to a senator and or a pair of senators to check them each month. There have been occasions where the budgets aren’t really adhered to. They need to monitor the line items. He is willing to work with them and look at line items at least once a month. That way, there will be an understanding of where they are on their budget. There are some big ticket items that are for a year and they need to be monitored. Finance Officer Woodhouse said that could go into the Finance Committee handbook. Senator Saltzman thinks it is a good idea and it is important that they don’t just look at some, but every single line item, even if they haven’t had any discrepancies in the past. Scott said it would make it a lot easier at budget time. VP Butticci agreed that it is a good idea and thinks it would be good if the Cabinet could take care of that. They could either assign groups to a cabinet member or split it up among the Cabinet. It would be more beneficial to be done by the Cabinet. Senator Messenger pointed out that they need to think about who is on the cabinet (Kendall Johnson, Tymeron Turk). VP Butticci said it was just a suggestion. It would be an appropriate job for the Chief of Staff. They need to be open minded and find the best way to solve it.

4.  Line Item Discussion—Finance Officer Woodhouse was impressed with IAC and she would be happy with leaving their funding the way it is. Senator Saltzman said they have to agree to start charging. Senator Jensen announced she will ensure the surveys are done right and get back to the committee. Senator Woodhouse said they do have the power to require them to find other ways to money. MOVE TO APPROVE THE IAC’S AMOUNT FROM LAST YEAR FOR THE NEXT YEAR. Jensen/Woodhouse. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED. Finance Officer Woodhouse said they should start at the committee’s own budget and figure how much they have to spare, and try to give more to SAB. Lowell said if enrollment dips, something has got to give. They could either give less to clubs or build in a reserve within revenue. There is no right or wrong way. Just be prepared for the worst case scenario. The money has to come from somewhere. It would need to be a minimum of $5,000 or $10,000. There needs to be some cushion. MOVE TO RECONSIDER VOTE FOR SAB’S EQUATION THAT FAILED TWO WEEKS AGO. Butticci/Spencer. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED. Discussion. VP Butticci hopes everyone understands now a little more. They have separated the complete SAB dollars used for activities per credit hour. Pocatello receives a decrease of $4,858, a total of $354,549, Idaho Falls has an increase of $6,103, a total of $50,688, Boise will lose $62, a total of $8031, and Twin Falls would lose $1,183, a total of $3,039. Previous. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED. The administration is asking for 9.02%. They can either take money from each line item or take from contingency funds. Senator Jensen thinks they should use the contingency fund. Senator Saltzman said they should use the contingency funds for items they are cutting. President Spencer said they are accountable to about $100,000. It is the committee’s and the Senate’s decision. Lowell said it will be a permanent cut.

NEW BUSINESS

1.  Matched Deposits: Chi Alpha: $15, Chemical Society of America: $500, American Fisheries Society: $285, Psychology Graduate Student Association (PGSA): $225, Society of Women Engineers: $150, International Society of Automation: $60.75.

OTHER

ADJOURNMENT

MOVE TO ADJOURN. Allbright/Jensen. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED. Meeting adjourned at 6:30pm.

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