Cost centers look to stay on the cutting edge
With cost center budgets now under the consideration of Legislative Council, UCSU will be working to weigh the benefits of proposed enhancements to the centers against the need to keep student fees at a minimum.
The budget process, which began on Feb. 5, has so far involved two meetings between Finance Board and directors from each cost center. They were asked to present three different budget scenarios to the board, one of which incorporated three desired enhancements the cost center would like to see.
Legislative Council President Boyce Postma, a senior architecture major, said these enhancements include anything above what the cost center would like to do. These are different from unduckables, which he said are expenses incurred by the cost center that are out of their control.
“Generally, if (cost centers) want an increase in operating, it will be considered an enhancement,” he said.
Examples of proposed cost center enhancements this year include funding the CU GOLD student leadership program in the UMC and installing a lightning protection alarm system for the Rec Center.
Postma said that an enhancement usually does mean an increase in student fees, but that Finance Board will keep those increases as low as possible.
Finance Board members said they had taken all requested enhancements into consideration before the board presented its budget recommendations to Legislative Council last Thursday.
“Finance Board is considering a package to increase student fees, but not so much that it will make or break a student’s decision to come to CU,” Postma said.
Based on Finance Board’s recommendations, student fees may be increasing by about $16 per student.
However, student fees are not the only way which cost center enhancements are funded. Finance Board Chair Cate Greguras, a senior accounting major, said money for enhancements could also come from a cost center’s fund balance, or from the Supplemental Operating Reserve.
Greguras said a fund balance is the accumulation of a cost center’s excess money when they do not spend their entire budget. Each year, 30 percent of each cost center’s fund balance is then put into the SOR, providing alternate sources of funding.
“If something is a continuing expense that should be funded, then it’s funded through student fees,” she said.
Carlos Garcia, director of the UMC, said that an enhancement should be an added value that contributes to the students’ college experience, such as a new program or upgrade to a facility. He said that, despite the rises in operating costs, many basic services are still considered enhancements, and not unduckables.
For things such as bathroom cleaning and toilet paper, Garcia said cost centers still have to request an enhancement to cover these costs. He said this goes against what he considers to be the true definition of an enhancement.
“The true enhancements are seen as extra, and extra is sometimes equated as unnecessary,” he said. “We want to make sure the services we provide students here are of the highest caliber.”
Greguras said that a good enhancement is one that will directly benefit both the cost center and the students. One enhancement from this year that she said she likes in particular is the creation of two new positions to monitor and secure the IT system at Wardenburg, which contains the medical records of CU students.
“You have to look at each cost center as an individual . and take it on a case-by-case basis,” she said.
One enhancement that did not receive recommendation from Finance Board was the CU GOLD student leadership program. Garcia said that CU GOLD is open to all students, but needs a consistent source of funding to increase the number of students it can serve. He said that the program accommodated about 500 students last year.
“We want to graduate students from this campus who are leaders in the community and in the world,” he said.
Greguras said that Finance Board did not feel comfortable funding the program at this time. Despite not getting its recommendation, CU GOLD still has the opportunity to convince Legislative Council otherwise. The council will meet with the “Big 3” cost centers of Wardenburg, the UMC and the Rec Center next Wednesday.
Postma said he is pleased with the proposed enhancements he has seen so far.
“They’re generally all high quality, needed enhancements,” he said.
Some students on campus say they would prefer to see fewer enhancements to keep their fees at the absolute minimum. Sara Hoberg, a senior management and psychology major, comes to CU from New Mexico and said she is already trying to deal with out-of-state tuition.
“For me, I would prefer to keep costs down,” she said. “My tuition fees are already high.”
Others, such as sophomore psychology and integrative physiology major Jackie Crowley, said they are willing to pay the extra money to make sure the facilities remain updated. Crowley said she goes to the Rec Center all the time, and that there are never enough treadmills for everyone.
“I’m willing to pay extra,” she said. “Otherwise, I’d be willing to pay extra to a gym off campus.”
After Legislative Council considers the budgets, they will move on for the approval of the UCSU Tri-executives.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer George Plaven at george.plaven@colorado.edu.
