by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
ASUNM unanimously approved its spring 2006 budget of $522,167 Tuesday night.
Andrea Roussel, chairwoman of the finance committee, said she was happy with the final budget.
"I feel that the committee has done an excellent job of allocating the money fairly across the board to student organizations," she said. "Also, we looked at ASUNM's budgets and looked at what they did use and didn't use. We went back and reduced them there."
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ASUNM and its student service agencies, such as the Southwest Film Center and Student Special Events, got $343,881, or about 65 percent of the total budget.
Roussel said that's because when allocating funds, the committee considers how many students each group benefits.
"What the committee looks at is how many students they affect," she said. "And the student service agencies affect all students, whether they know it or not."
For example, the entire University benefits from the volunteer work Community Experience does to beautify campus, she said.
Student service agencies were formerly called executive agencies.
The budget also gave $52,530 to the Student Publication Board, which oversees the Daily Lobo, Conceptions Southwest literary magazine and Best Student Essays. However, the budget for the board is written into ASUNM's constitution, and the committee does not decide how much money to give the board.
Some of the groups that got the most money were the Interfraternity Council - the governing body of fraternities at UNM - with $7,103, Lobo Rugby Football Club with $3,569, and the Speech and Debate Society with $3,285.
The final budget was the result of a process that began in February.
Every group first filled out a request form and an itemized budget, outlining the purpose and history of its group.
Any group who requested $750 or more had to attend a budget hearing, during which the finance committee discussed the group's budget and made reductions. The committee held deliberations March 5 to make further reductions and balance the budget.
Four groups, including the Undergraduate Anthropology Society and the Residence Hall Association, got no money because they did not come to their scheduled hearings.
The money for the budget comes from a $20 per semester fee every UNM undergraduate pays. The spring budget provides money for the bulk of groups' operating costs, such as office supplies, equipment and facility rentals.
Women's Rugby got $3,377.
Maria Clifcorn, president of the Rugby club, said she was happy with the budget process.
"I was fine with the way they ran things. I didn't have any problems," she said. "I thought that the whole budget hearing thing was helpful, too."
However, Clifcorn wants ASUNM to provide more money for travel, she said.
"A club like ours travels a lot, so it would be good if they could put that in the budget," she said.
ASUNM does not fund travel during the spring budget, Roussel said. During the fall, ASUNM gives up to four members of each group $50 per night per person, and pays half of their airfare, she said.
She said the policy is meant to make good use of student fees.
"We're trying to get groups to self-generate funds for stuff like that because obviously ASUNM can't fund everything for every group," she said.
The spring 2005 budget was $515,229.
Mike Mooney, ASUNM vice president, said he was impressed with the committee's work.
"This is probably one of the smoothest-running finance committees maybe that ASUNM has ever seen," he said.
