The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Associated Student budget

  • Pool budget drained by Associated Students

    Pool budget drained by Associated Students

    by Valen Lambert

    Since the Associated Students cut nearly $500,000 from student programs in September because of the administration’s faulty admission estimate, students and faculty are enduring the collateral damage. The cut of the campus pool’s budget from $25,000 to $7,500 means a big shift for its 15 employees and the hundreds of students and faculty that recreate in it, and pool staff claim that the AS correspondence has been less than professional.

    The budget cut isn’t anything new to the pool’s programs, which are a part of the School of Applied Health. Lawre Maple, who has been the pool’s program director for nine years, notes that the pool hasn’t had full budgeting since COVID. Every year the program struggles to stay open, and every year staff have to fight to get the funding they need.

    “We’re only open right now because the [Dean of Professional Studies] came in and found us some funding and gave us $10,000,” said Maple. 

    This year, however, according to Maple and student lifeguards, A.S. confused the pool program with an entirely different department. Initially, A.S. reached out to the pool program that sent over the necessary paperwork about what the budget will be used for. When A.S. came back to clarify the budget, they reached out to Paul Wells, who is the Recreational Sports Coordinator and totally unaffiliated with the pool programs that got their budget reduced. 

    “A.S. had accidentally included drop-in pool hours with the same funding as drop-in sports when we first applied for funding,” said Wells. “I believe the similar naming convention caused the confusion when I first applied for funding earlier this year, during the spring semester.”

    “To verify the information or to gain more information about the pool, we were not told that they reached out to a faculty member [Paul Wells] in [Rec Sports],” said student lifeguard Kaden Tobin. “A.S. claimed they were a part of our staff, but they are not and in no way connected to the staff that works at the pool. A.S. claimed at the board meeting on Oct. 13 to have contacted the pool staff directly, but only through email. Only one member [Andres Olmos] of the A.S. board ever came to the pool in person to talk, which was on Oct. 12. All it takes is a simple search on Google or the school website to figure out who to talk to.”

    This miscommunication resulted in Maple not hearing about the budget cut until Oct. 4, five days after they passed the cut. At an A.S. meeting on Oct. 13, The Marching Lumberjacks also claimed A.S. failed to notify them of the Sep. 20 budget meeting where they would have had an opportunity to fight for their funding. Student lifeguard Sam McLane attended the Oct. 13 meeting where he asked the A.S. board if they even knew where the pool was.

    “I asked the Board of Associated Students ‘How many of you know where the pool is?’” said McLane. “I think two out of nine of them knew.”

    “There were some mistakes made,” said A.S. President Samuel Parker. “We had to make the budget in such a short time frame. We could have done better. We went with the allocation that the previous board had suggested.”  

    Interim executive director of AS Kendra Higgins commented on the budget discrepancy.

    “Last year, the Board of Directors collected budget applications for A.S. funding for the 23-24 school year,” said Higgins. The application had incorrect contact information for the swim program that had been copied from previous years,” Higgins said in an email statement. “Upon realizing this discrepancy, our Administrative Vice President, Andres Olmos, personally visited the pool for further clarification, apologized for any confusion, and invited representatives from the pool to participate in our board of directors meetings and the finance sub-committee, where the recommended budget for the next year is discussed.” 

    The budget cuts are not affecting the classes that take place in the pool, but the hours of its open lap time are affected. Decreasing from 25 hours to about 12 hours of open lap swim each week means that its 15 employed lifeguards have significantly reduced hours. Grace Kasberger, a student lifeguard, is seeing her hours diminish from around 15 hours a week to just four, and is scrambling to make up for the loss.

    “This is one of my only jobs, and the only job that can work because I’m also a student athlete,” said Kasberger. “Most other places on campus aren’t very lenient with an athletic schedule as well as my school schedule. This all happened in the middle of the semester. I had the security and now I don’t, and so it’s kind of a little bit of a panic.” 

    Student staff aren’t the only ones affected by the significant cut. Students of the nationally acclaimed scientific diving minor rely on the open hours of the pool to practice their diving in a safe space instead of in Humboldt’s dangerous and unpredictable ocean. Student athletes utilize the pool for cross training or training with their PT’s if they have an injury. According to Tobin, they’ve already had at least 950 people recreate during lap time in the first eight weeks, when usually they’ll get that many in a whole semester, and the amount of faculty passes sold this semester is already above average. All of these people will be affected by the diminishing open hours.

    “You have people that swim for wellbeing, mental and physical,” said Maple. “People that can’t do traditional workouts. They have different needs. They have different bodies. Swimming is one of the only sports that everybody can do.”

  • Associated Students cuts $500,000 out of student programs: resource centers struggle

    Associated Students cuts $500,000 out of student programs: resource centers struggle

    by Angel Barker

    This is an extended version of the story that was published Friday, September 29. This version was printed on Wednesday, October 4.

    It was a misty Friday morning in Arcata. Fewer than 20 people met in person to discuss the budget reform for funded student groups on campus. Tensions were high and budget cuts were higher.

    Faced with a deficit of more than $500,000, the Associated Students (A.S.) met to make huge cuts to student programs. There were over 20 funded program cuts that were approved.

    A $500,000 deficit heightened the tensions between A.S. and core funded student groups on campus. With thousands lower in enrollment numbers than originally projected by the university, it left a sour taste in the mouths of everyone whose budget was about to be cut by thousands of dollars.

    Associated Students Administrative Vice President (AVP) Andres Olmos facilitated the discussion for the necessary cuts of the budget. According to Olmos, because of lack of funds, they are essentially starting from the ground up with the bare minimum of only wages for student workers. That still leaves them over budget. The revenue is much less than predicted in the spring due to the high enrollment projections made by the university.

    The original revenue number was $786,000. Using A.S. reserve funds, the number would have been $865,000. According to Olmos, the financial office told A.S. to get to $750,000, meaning the total number of funds cut were $528,717 because the approved budget when the university thought enrollment would be much higher, a whole $1.2 million.

    A screenshot of the finalized budget of the funded student programs. The left column is the original budget approved in spring and the right column is where the budget is now.

    Olmos acknowledged that it was important to A.S. that student workers were able to keep their jobs, and that the main priority was keeping each budget at least at their current wages, only so students could continue to survive.

    Over 20 student groups like cultural centers, service organizations and more, saw cuts that ranged anywhere from $2,500 (Drop-In Rec Open Gym) to $186,498 (A.S. General Operations). 

    Some individual budgets were getting cut entirely because they have trust funds that they can survive on for the year; others were biting their nails to try and get more than just enough to pay student workers.

    “The money that is now allocated to us is strictly for wages,” Isabela Acosta, the Fiscal Coordinator for the Women’s Resource Center said in an interview after the A.S. meeting. “Not for supplies and hospitality or events.”

    A.S. President Samuel Parker said that the university told A.S. in the beginning of September that they would need to cut the budget. With less than a month to make the adjustments, it was difficult.

    “It was pretty difficult to have to deal with in such a tight time frame,” Parker said. “Also we have a very limited amount of people at the moment, so it is hard to get the adequate amount of communication out to everyone to let everyone know and have them chime in with their perspectives.”

    Marketing and Communications Director of News and Information Aileen Yoo said in an email statement that the budget office had informed A.S. about the budget shortfall on Aug. 30. 

    “One of the reasons for the budget deficit had to do with fee revenue estimates being lower than anticipated due to enrollment growth being more modest than initially anticipated during budget planning last spring,” Yoo said. “This led to needed adjustments to many of our budgeted operations across campus, including our main Operating Fund as well as our fee supported areas, such as AS.”

    The Eric Rofes Queer Multicultural Resource Center (ERC) approved budget for the 2023-2024 school year was $42,500. It was cut to $30,000 after Ascher Marks, the fiscal director for the ERC, and AVP Olmos talked. Olmos told Marks that the ERC employees might not be able to work over summer and winter breaks.

    “We cannot really consider that because our bills don’t stop during winter and summer break,” Marks responded. “We need to be working over the breaks because this is our job and how we make money.”

    Other organizations like the Women’s Resource Center are struggling to do anything except pay their employees.

    “We can’t buy menstrual products,” Acosta said. “Our sole responsibility as a resource center is to provide menstrual products for campus.”

    Acosta explained that due to a law passed in California in 2021, that the university should be stocking the bathrooms with menstrual products, but they have not been.

    “Our school should be [providing] menstrual products because of California Bill 367, which makes California public institutions required to have free and accessible menstrual products, and the school has not instilled this bill,” Acosta said. “So we have basically been taking out large portions of our yearly budget to provide menstrual products for campus when it is not even our responsibility to do so.”

    Yoo responded to this in an email statement.

    Photo by Kae Dennert. Ella Moore, Rose Co-Director, raises her hand during the A.S. meeting on Friday.

    “This [law] has been funded previously by the university, through Student Health & Wellbeing Services and other institutional resources, with staffing resupply support through the Office of Student Life and other university departments. The Women’s Resource Center provided additional supplies and locations and has done so since before the bill was passed. A group of those folks plus Facilities Management are now meeting to streamline the process and ensure funding and coordination of effort.”

    When asked about the backstock of menstrual products and when the center could possibly run out, she said that if they were to stock every bathroom regularly they would run out by next week. With the stock they have (about 20 boxes of pads, 100 menstrual cups and 18 boxes of tampons), she is hoping they will make it to the end of the semester. 

    Some organizations still have enough to sustain for the year, like the Waste Reduction Resource Awareness Program (WRAPP). The Program was cut by $9,200 leaving them below the A.S. recommendation of only wages, yet they remain optimistic.

    “We are so excited to have $44,000,” Ella Moore, Rose Co-Director said. “It means we are going to be able to pay our employees and [have] a little wiggle room for basic operations.”

    The Social Justice, Equity and Inclusion Center will still be open after their $16,500 cut. Frank Herrera, the Center’s Coordinator, is optimistic despite the small funds. Herrera said that the primary goal is to keep student staff, the secondary is to have high impact events. He understands that budgets change and the Center just needs to be more intentional with events.

    Aside from the difficulties cutting a budget by this much, Parker is proud and optimistic, particularly of AVP Olmos.

    “There were a lot of factors that made it pretty difficult for everyone. I am very proud of everyone for managing to pull it off.”

  • Hustle and bustle at the Associated Students

    Hustle and bustle at the Associated Students

    by Matthew Taylor

    In the wake of reimagining the Associated Students, all hands are on deck. More staff and members have resigned over time as the major deadlines of AS’ yearly budget and the next election cycle fast approach. The Board of Directors has played musical chairs with itself after Finley’s impeachment in a scramble to fill the most critical positions. The AS is quickly becoming a phoenix out of its ashes. Reinvigoration among its most loyal members has been felt across the organization, and student participation and interest have been at an all-time high since the pandemic first hit.

    “[We’re] tapping into the core program,” Chase Marcum, the current Administrative Vice President, said. “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

    Since refocusing on the budget, Marcum and the Finance Committee have utilized all the help they can get from resources such as the Student Legal Lounge, CCAT, and the work of their predecessors.

    “We forget that a lot of passionate previous leadership had the foresight to give students templates and guidance,” Marcum said. “[We have] the ability to look back.”

    The yearly budget plans to increase funds for the Asian, Desi, Pacific Islander Collective (APIC) and various other cultural centers on campus. Funding is also being put into Scholars without Borders and expanding the list of study-abroad countries provided at Cal Poly Humboldt. The Student Legal Lounge may also receive higher funds to put into aid for Dreamer students.

    Discussions around previous legislation, bylaws, and organizational structures continue. Plans to review and update the AS Personnel Code along with many of Finley’s previous legislation are in the works. Reviews will ensure that all legislation and bylaws protect student representation and autonomy within the organization. The Bylaws Committee, alongside Legislative Vice President Gio Guerrero, has also begun negotiations with the Dean of Students to utilize the resources from HR to avoid future internal conflicts.

    Above all, the AS is hopeful for the new election cycle. Voting will commence between April 18-22, and students will be emailed the ballot. Guerrero said that last year only 3-4 people ran for mostly uncontested positions, but this semester almost all the positions have at least one person running for so far. The signature process to get on the ballot has also been waived, making it easier to apply. The results of the elections will be posted on May 6.

    “There’s some work ahead of us, but we’ll make it through and persist,” Guerrero said. “We’re going to be okay as an organization.”

    The next Board of Directors meeting will be held this Friday, April 8, at Nelson Hall East 106 from 3 to 6 p.m. As always, these meetings will be open to the public and are now entirely accessed via Zoom. For access to meetings or further inquiries, the AS can be contacted at (707) 826-5410 and through its email at as-staff@humboldt.edu.

  • Associated Students Lose Core Programs and Student Wages

    Associated Students Lose Core Programs and Student Wages

    Based on projected enrollment, the Associated Students budget is expected to decrease 20% each year, for the next five years

    The Associated Students Board finalized their proposed budget for the upcoming academic year, during the April 24 board meeting. The budget includes cutting the entire budgets of the Asian, Desi, Pacific Islander Center, the Eric Rofes Multicultural Queer Resource Center or ERC and the Women’s Resource Center, among other programs.

    Jeremiah Finley was elected the incoming AS President for the 2020-21 academic year. He wants to assure students they won’t be losing their programs.

    “The reality is that we want to support y’all so bad,” Finley said. “That we’re willing to go into our reserves almost $100,000 to be able to still support in some type of way.”

    Budget Administrator of the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology Justin Hawkins was baffled by the budget decisions and spoke out during the meeting.

    “How does the budget increase $14,000 and it’s going directly to the AS government in-between these recommended budgets, and yet, all of us are getting cut.”

    Justin Hawkins

    “It’s just tragic, honestly, to see these massive cuts to the ERC and the Women’s Resource Center,” Hawkins said. “I’m a male body person, I identify that way, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t empathize and really appreciate the services that are provided.”

    Hawkins questioned the justification for the AS budget increase after having several thousand dollars of his own program cut.

    “It’s really troubling what I see going on,” Hawkins said. “How does the budget increase $14,000 and it’s going directly to the AS government in-between these recommended budgets, and yet, all of us are getting cut.”

    Despite losing one of their three staff positions, the AS general operations budget has increased over $15,000 for the upcoming academic-year. This comes as a result of general operations losing miscellaneous revenue, largely made up of compensation for the oversight of Instructionally Related Activities. Without the $35,000 miscellaneous revenue provided for the 2019-20 year, the general operations budget requires additional funds to function.

    As a result of budget reductions, AS was forced to down-size their office administrator position. This sharp deadline made it impossible for AS to administer payroll for the upcoming year and as a result student-wages have been removed from AS and most of its funded-programs. Executive Director of AS, Jenessa Lund, said the current system isn’t working.

    “Even with three employees,” Lund said. “When we have eight programs spread across campus, the oversight is impossible. It’s a huge liability!”

    In order to compensate students for their time, AS has come up with several loopholes to get around the extra paperwork that comes with administering official wages. These include paid-internships and stipends for students, both of which have been allocated specific funds in the final budget.

    These allocations include a $15,000 committee compensation package that increased the AS government budget. The package is specifically set aside for non-AS board members that are involved in AS committees.

    “The optics on the final number of $111,000 looks bad,” Lund said. “But if you really look at what’s inside of it, it’s support to the students.”

    The finalized proposal includes a significant increase to the clubs’ budget, with money that can be used for student-stipends and internships. Programs that didn’t receive any funding from AS have the option to transition their organization into a club and can apply for funding through AS and the clubs’ office. Programs that weren’t given a budget for the upcoming year have also been allocated specific funds.

    “I don’t think that all of the clubs should have an equal opportunity for that funding.”

    Alexia Siebuhr

    Queer Coordinator for the MultiCultural Center, Alexia Siebuhr voiced her concerns about access to AS grants distributed through clubs, at a board meeting on May 8. Siebuhr pointed out a white supremacist club on campus, who promotes hateful behavior towards groups denied an AS budget, is competition for club funding.

    “I don’t think that all of the clubs should have an equal opportunity for that funding,” Siebuhr said. “They have the equal opportunity to apply for those grants. That just rubs me a little bit the wrong way.”

    President-Elect Finley addressed Siebuhr’s concerns, explaining the reasoning behind the allocation.

    “Every fee-paying student has to be able to have access to these funds,” Finley said. “If we do not allow them to have access to these funds, then we are doing a dis-service to our students.”

    Programs with a department and a state employee overseeing paperwork are the only ones able to maintain regular wages because their payroll doesn’t go through AS. For programs that didn’t receive a budget from AS, finding a department to adopt them and re-applying for funding is currently their only option.

    AS is already in discussion with the Student Access Gallery, the Waste-Reduction and Resource Awareness Program, the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology and several departments about the possibility of adoption. Executive Director Lund believes this will be the most beneficial direction for the programs, moving into next year.

    “We didn’t have enough time to do that for every program,” Lund said. “That would’ve been ideal.”

    AS is prepared for the possibility of refunding fee-paying students for potentially cancelled events and other unspent student-fee funds. Ultimately, if they aren’t providing the services outlined by student-fees, they shouldn’t be charging them.