Editorial : SA’s budget reform to streamline allocation process

Student Association is introducing a new tiered system for allocating the student fee to organizations. SA will rank organizations into four tiers depending on their history of successful events. The highest-ranked organizations can receive a larger amount of the money.

Reforming the budget by ranking organizations’ history of success will make the process more efficient and transparent.

When requests from organizations total $1.3 million and SA only has $700,000 to distribute, as it did last fall, the Finance Board will never please everyone. But this system will make it clear to organization members what budget requests are feasible and how they can prove themselves over time.

The tiered system will also allow for the most money to go to student organizations that have proven their events have the broadest appeal on campus. This reform guarantees that most students will participate in or attend the events their money pays for.

In his second year as comptroller, Jeff Rickert has continually updated the budget process, one of SA’s most important duties. Though improving the budget system is never-ending, this reform reveals dedication to making the process as equitable and streamlined as possible.