By Sophie Foster
News Co-Editor
The Washington College Student Government Association’s Budget Committee is in the process of dissecting its Budget Guidelines and accepting budgetary requests from clubs and student organizations for the upcoming semester.
According to an email sent by SGA Financial Controller and Sports Editor of The Elm sophomore Jack Poleto, the SGA’s goal in this move was to “create a document that better represents the current atmosphere of WC.”
In order to best achieve this ambition, the SGA hosted a series of meetings during which they invited the student body to voice concerns, suggestions, and questions regarding the Budget Guidelines and features they sought improvement in. These meetings, held in the SGA conference room in Hodson Hall, took place on Oct. 19, 21, 24, 26, and 28.
Additionally, the SGA proposed that a Budget Guidelines Review Auxiliary Committee be formed to address the issue.
According to the resolution submitted to the WC SGA Senate on Oct. 18, “the Budget Guidelines were created to provide clubs and organizations with a uniform way to create a budget and guide the Budget Committee in approval of all budgets. They ideally make sure that every club is treated equal under standard procedures and a set of principles.”
The resolution explained that the guidelines as they initially stood were written in a time before the COVID-19 pandemic and were thus outdated when considering the present needs of the College community.
“The creation of a new and more appropriate set of guidelines for the current atmosphere of the clubs and organizations” was identified in the resolution as the focus of the committee.
The responsibilities of the committee, chaired by Poleto, included reviewing the Budget Guidelines thoroughly and recommending alterations and amendments to them. The final changes were presented by the committee to the Senate at its meeting on Monday, Nov. 1 and will be applied to the SGA’s spring 2023 budget cycle.
The budget cycle officially opened on Monday, Nov. 7 and will close at midnight on Tuesday, Nov. 22 before the beginning of Thanksgiving break. Budget requests submitted after midnight on Tuesday will not be considered by Poleto or the SGA. Clubs submitting budget requests higher than 1,000 dollars are to meet with Poleto and the Budget Committee between Nov. 28 and Dec. 2.
As a follow-up to the meetings addressing the Budget Guidelines, the SGA announced a series of budget workshops to better prepare student leaders for submitting their budget requests. The first of these workshops was hosted on Friday, Nov. 11, and the second was hosted on Monday, Nov. 14. The final workshop will take place on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m.
The SGA also shared that the Omnibus Budget will be presented to the WC Senate on Dec. 6. Upon its approval, club treasurers will be contacted regarding any potential changes to their organization’s budget.
Clubs and student organizations can submit their budget requests to Poleto at sga_fc@washcoll.edu using the Microsoft Excel sheet shared in the Nov. 11 email. Questions regarding this process should also be sent to Poleto. His office hours are held between the hours of 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Elm Archive Photo
Photo Caption: The SGA office, housed in Hodson Hall, hosts the SGA and enables them to hold many of their meetings and office hours.