Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Proposal Jonathan Whitson, Vice President of Finance February 26, 2014

Budget History

Spending History

GSG Revenue, Budget, and Spending

FY14 YTD

Organizational Trending Group funding approvals and funding amounts – The graphs below depict the number and amount of approved funding applications the GSG received this past fiscal year from recognized graduate groups.

Organization Trending (Cont.) Individual conference applications – Based on our six period funding system, a noticeable increase in applications was observed in period III and V, which correspond to conferences in October, November, February, and March. If this trending continues it future years it would be to best to support future funding by mirroring these trends Individual conference spending – The graph above on the right shows the period over period funding approvals as well as the cumulative amount of funding for fiscal year 2014.

Organizational Trending (Cont.) Applications by College – More than half of all conference funding applications comes from two colleges within the University. To the contrary, the bottom three colleges represent less than 3% of all applications received. This stark polarization demonstrates a potential inequality between those receiving benefits from the Graduate Activity Fee and those that do not.

Recommendations and Proposals Balancing the budget – To ensure the long-term financial health we should seek to budget based on the amount of fees collected via the Graduate Activity Fee. Greater emphasis on group funding – With the goal of equitable distribution in mind, the GSG should seek to provide greater group funding opportunities by revising their policies and increasing the amount of funding available to groups. To achieve this goal, the Finance Committee has increased group funding $5000 year-over-year.

Recommendations and Proposals Increase funding for organizational development – It is the recommendation of the Finance Committee to formally recognize this organizational value by dedicating funds specifically for internal retreats and leadership training for senators and committee members. The proposed budget includes a new line item entitled, Internal Conferences, with $1250 dedicated to it. Financial support for Graduate Leadership Programs – The Center for Student Involvement (CSI) current operates a Leadership program and would like to expand to graduate students and groups. The Finance Committee proposes a dedicated line item within the operational budget in the amount of $1000 to support this initiative.

FY15 Proposal

Deficit Potential