UA budget proposal looks to consolidate Fall Fest, Skimmer

The consolidation of Fall Fest and Skimmer into one event and a potential hike in Spring Fling ticket prices are among some of the changes included in the Undergraduate Assembly’s proposed budget for the 2012-13 academic year.

The UA presented its annual budget proposal at a general body meeting Sunday night.

Overall, the UA received an estimated $2,044,506 from the Board of Trustees, an increase of 3.9 percent over the previous year’s total.

One of the largest changes to the UA’s budget proposal this year was the elimination of Fall Fest in exchange for a revamped Skimmer. The event, meant to be a collaboration between the Social Planning and Events Committee and all four Class Boards, is expected to be held during the weekend of the first football game in the fall semester.

“We felt that Fall Festival and Skimmer were very similar,” College junior and UA Treasurer Jake Shuster said. “By combining them and allocating more money there, we can create a bigger and better event.”

The UA’s budget committee has also proposed raising ticket prices for next year’s Spring Fling by $5, according to College senior and SPEC President Shana Rusonis. Though the Fling proposal is contained within the UA’s budget, SPEC made the initial suggestion to increase ticket prices, Shuster explained.

“This is because talent is getting more expensive and we can’t just ask the University for more funding,” he said.

“Concerts are just more expensive now than they were five years ago,” said Engineering junior and UA Representative Matt Rosenberg, a budget committee member. “You can’t get this kind of concert for this pricing anywhere else.”

The proposed budget will also increase funds for the Student Activities Council — the branch of student government that funds student groups across campus — by 7.41 percent.

This increase will allow SAC to continue to accept more groups and fund many student group needs, said Wharton sophomore and UA Representative Tiffany Zhu, another budget committee member. SAC temporarily froze funding for new groups in January 2011 to reevaluate its financial situation, but lifted the moratorium in September.

The budget committee has also proposed cutting approximately $2,500 from UA operations and administrative costs. This money will instead be put toward funding other Penn student government branches.

“We want to spend as much money as possible on student life and activities,” Shuster said.

While SAC is expected to receive a substantial increase in funding next year, other branches of student government may have to apply for UA contingency funding — which are last-resort requests for one-time costs or costs that are not anticipated during the initial budgeting process — to fulfill their financial needs.

Although SPEC Jazz and Grooves requested funding for eight shows next year, the budget committee has proposed to accommodate just seven.

According to the budget proposal, “should Jazz and Grooves decide to do a New Student Orientation or Spring Fling show, the fund from two shows will be used and they will apply to contingency for the remainder of the funds.”

Penn’s Medical Emergency Response Team — which began receiving funding from the UA last year — received a proposed grant of $16,339, a 7.45-percent decrease from last year’s total.

MERT’s request for several one-time purchases — including software, a new bicycle and a computer — were not approved in the proposal.

“These one-time costs could be easily fulfilled by other granting sources and the yearly requests were more important,” Zhu said.

Similarly, the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education’s requests for several one-time costs were also denied in the proposal. Overall, SCUE’s proposed funding is down by 1.44 percent from last year’s total.

Shuster added that SCUE and MERT will most likely be able to receive additional funding through UA contingency. This year, the UA estimates that its contingency fund will be $10,222, a 35-percent decrease from 2011-12.

“I think the process is going smoothly and that most branches of student government are satisfied,” Shuster said. “I anticipate that there won’t be many amendments made … That said, you never know.”

The UA’s budget will be finalized on Feb. 26 after all of the student government branches discuss their funding requests with the UA’s general body at a Feb. 19 meeting.

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