Undergraduate Student Government (USG) leaders unveiled a new website that displays total funding requests and allocations for every RSO on campus at USG’s quarterly general body meeting Wednesday evening.
USG committee members and College Council (CC) representatives also presented annual reports about programs and events USG organized this year as well as plans for next year.
The new USG website is the result of the CLEAR Act, passed by CC in April, which requires USG to publicly release how much funding each RSO requested and received in the previous academic year. The website also shows annual funding allocations for the upcoming academic year, though it does not include recurring requests that occur during the year.
Though RSO allocations, like other CC decisions, are supposed to be public, USG has not previously made them available except upon request. Several candidates in last month’s USG elections—including USG President-elect Kevin Guo—campaigned on increased budget transparency.
In addition to debuting the new website, members of USG committees gave brief reports on past initiatives. USG President Elijah Jenkins said at the meeting that USG Cabinet expenditures had totaled $14,629. That included a record $3,846 in election expenses, mostly made up of candidate reimbursements, in what was, according to Jenkins, an election with the largest number of students ever running for elected USG positions.
At the meeting, former Election & Rules Committee Chair Jay Love pointed to the implementation of ranked-choice voting in the spring USG election as a success. He also noted record voter turnout, up from 892 votes in last year’s election to 1,910 this year—about 27 percent of undergraduates.
Jenkins also highlighted an ongoing free menstrual product campaign, a collaboration between USG and Graduate Council, noting that products are now available in 20 buildings around campus, either in women’s restrooms or in vending machines nearby.
Vice President of Student Organizations Fred Lee cited an increase of $50,000 to the USG budget this year as another major success.
Guo, who currently is currently vice chair of CC, presented on behalf of the body, citing “record levels of engagement” from the student body in terms of both election participation and activity throughout the school year.
He said that USG had considered 30 resolutions throughout the academic year, including the CLEAR Act, the act establishing the Judicial Council, and a resolution calling for the implementation of Maroon Dollars as a dorm laundry payment option. He added that representatives have continued to follow up with University administrators about implementing the Maroon Dollars resolution.
“College Council has been the most active I’ve seen in my three years here. That in and of itself is an important milestone,” Guo said.
