Penn’s Undergraduate Assembly received a 5% funding cut for the upcoming academic year.
Credit: Justin AbenojaPenn’s Undergraduate Assembly convened a special budget meeting on April 2 to reallocate funds for student organizations for the upcoming academic year.
The changes come after a 5% cut to the UA’s allotted funding from the Office of the Provost. The funding cuts — requested by the Provost’s Office and the Office of Student Affairs — are part of a “proactive and preemptive” effort from Penn to “cut funding by a certain percent,” according to College senior and UA President Ria Ellendula.
According to Ellendula, Penn faces the possibility of an unprecedented endowment tax on the University “ranging anywhere from 5% to 40%.” As a result, Penn’s administration implemented a 5% funding cut for each department — including money allotted to the UA by the Provost’s Office.
During the meeting, members of the UA and other constituents expressed concerns for student groups already experiencing financial strain and asked whether it was feasible to tap into reserve funds, which total approximately $170,000.
“We have talked to Katie Bonner, who’s the executive director of the Office of Student Affairs, and she said that depending on certain variables, there’s a likelihood that we could drain the reserve fund up to $150,000,” Ellendula said.
Engineering senior and UA Treasurer Chandler Cheung stressed the unprecedented nature of the funding cuts and the importance of considering the potential need for the reserve fund in the future.
“We don’t know how long these cuts will last, and the Provost’s Office doesn’t know what’s going to happen,” Cheung said. “So I wouldn’t recommend draining the entire reserve fund just for this short-term need now.”
Financial delegates from Penn’s Medical Emergency Response Team, the Student Activities Council, the Social Planning and Events Committee, and other entities presented their proposed budget cuts, followed by a brief Q-and-A session after each speaker.
The budget reallocation plan included an almost 7% decrease in SPEC funding — a total reduction of $83,350 — with a $15,000 cut from SPEC’s concerts talent category, which helps fund the annual Spring Fling festival.
SAC will also experience a cut of around 2%, or $32,000, according to a spreadsheet provided at the meeting.
The Nominations and Elections Committee proposed a $4,500 cut to its funds, which would account for a 49% decrease in the organization’s original allocation.
“We are cutting about half of our budget, it hurts to say,” an NEC representative said. “But we recognize the importance of this. This is an unprecedented situation, and we're willing to make some of these sacrifices.”
MERT plans to decrease its equipment and supplies allocation from $12,300 to $11,750 and fully cut its modernization fund, which was previously budgeted for $1,700. The change amounted to a $2,250 overall reduction in its budget, marking nearly 12% of its previously allocated funds.
The four class boards plan to cut $21,000 from their budgets, with a $1,000 reduction from the first year events fund, $7,000 from both the sophomore and senior events funds, and $6,000 from the junior events fund.
“It’s important to notice that there are denominators and numerators here,” College junior and UA Speaker Leo Solga said. “It looks as though the sophomore and senior [funds] are cutting about the same. But when it comes to percentages, it varies widely. There’s an effort to preserve senior spending capability due to Feb Club and other such traditions.”
The UA itself decreased its budget by 15%, completely defunding UA Steering’s original allocation of $400 and UA Operations’ $500 budget.
The Student Committee on Undergraduate Education and Penn Labs plan to reduce their budgets by about 10% and 11%, respectively.
“My understanding is that we have quite a lot of leeway and flexibility [with amendment procedures] because we are not passing the budget,” Solga said. “These are not budget meetings. Technically speaking, what we’re in is an ‘emergency meeting.’”
The UA will host a second budget meeting on April 9 to finalize the amended budget.
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