Two weeks ago the Student Senate spent no time discussing the Presenter’s Office budget, despite a bill threatening to cut its funding by nearly half.
Sen. Sam Swenson, humanities, proposed a resolution to decrease the funding of the Presenter’s Office to 20 percent of ASUU’s annual budget. The office currently receives 39 percent of the $1.2 million budget, which will be $468,000 next year. The proposed resolution would have reduced that to $240,000.
As he began to speak on the bill, however, Swenson changed it so the Presenter’s Office would not be threatened for funding.
“After a lot of meetings and a lot of review of the Presenter’s Office, we don’t want to attack the Presenter’s Office,” Swenson told the Senate.
The Presenter’s Office is the cultural events organ of the Associated Students of the University of Utah and presents or supports 75 to 100 events every year, ranging from Redfest, the four-day festival that opens the school year, to free films in the Union. The results of a survey conducted by an outside polling firm to determine student use of the office’s programs will be available sometime this week.
Although Swenson immediately dropped the part of the bill challenging the Presenter’s Office, he still thinks the office’s funding should be examined.
ASUU President-elect Bill Edwards also plans to question the office’s large budget when he becomes president in May.
“It’s definitely something to look into,” Edwards said. “It is student money, it needs to be placed where it will be used effectively.”
Although Edwards said he will investigate the funding of the Presenter’s Office, he does not plan to change its funding.
“As of right now, I do not anticipate any changes,” he said. “They have big potential to do really great things, it’s important for a campus community to have things that bring culture to campus.”
Current ASUU President Ben Lowe also believes the Presenter’s Office is a valuable organization for the campus because it reaches students who don’t know about ASUU.
“I went to Presenter’s Office events before I ever came to the U,” Lowe said. “It affects our campus and community in such a positive way.”
All students paid $7.82 to the Presenter’s Office each semester out of their $20.06, which is the ASUU activity fee this year. The office had $390,000 in student fees for 2001-02, and through ticket sales and fund-raising, the office earned $123,000 more, for a total budget of $513,000. Next year the office plans to take in $669,000 which will pay for the operations of the office and programming.
More than $200,000 of the Presenter’s Office budget pays for the staff salaries and student compensation. The office currently has two full time staff members?Jenny Thomas, the executive director, and Lance Duffin, the marketing director. The office budgeted $30,000 for a new staff position next year, which would pay for an office manager. Thomas and Duffin combined make $100,000 annually.
In the past, part-time students have filled this position, with about three students acting as receptionists and dealing with the paperwork necessary to run the Presenter’s Office. Next year’s projected budget has $13,000 planned for student office support staff, although Thomas hopes the office will not need student office support if the office manager position works out.
“We’re kind of waiting to see how the office manager position shakes out,” Thomas said. “We’re moving toward having fewer people.”
Although Thomas does not plan to lay off any student support, she may not replace students as they leave the office.
“We know that it makes more sense for one person to be here a lot,” she said.
As executive director of the office, Thomas advises the students and sets the “vision” for the office. She also participates in fund raising, does the legal work necessary for the office, oversees finances and makes connections with the artists.
“I aid and help look at the long-term development of the office from year to year,” she said.
ASUU first established the Presenter’s Office in 1997 to add continuity and coherence to the student government’s programming efforts. A programs board existed within the executive cabinet of ASUU, with a budget of about $60,000, which generated more funds, according to Stayner Landward, dean of students. This board put on events like Mayfest, now known as Redfest, but was not able to hold many other activities.
The group was not really able to build strong relationships with agents either, because of the high leadership turnover, according to Thomas.
The ASUU leadership at the time then put forth a proposal to the Senate and General Assembly to form an office to present numerous events designed to attract students back to campus, according to Landward.
This is the fifth full year the Presenter’s Office has functioned under the leadership of full-time staff.
“The Presenter’s Office is a new organization still improving and working to find their best nich,” Lowe said. “Give them another five years to continue to develop.”
The Presenter’s Office projected budget includes $30,000 to compensate the students who bring programming to the U. The programming coordinators oversee the three areas all Presenter’s Office events fall into, the main events, speakers and free functions. The three coordinators are compensated $1,000 a semester for three semesters.
The office also has 10 boards that oversee specific types of events, including concerts, festivals, comedy and performing arts. The budget for next year includes $22,000 to compensate the directors and members of these boards, which at the limits demanded by Redbook, will compensate 24 students for three semesters. Board directors can receive up to $450 a semester, vice chairs can receive $225 and members can get $125 a semester.
According to Thomas, the stipends are a minimal award and based on performance.
Student leaders from the office also have the opportunity to participate in what the office calls professional development. The office has $20,000 budgeted to send students and staff members to conferences and events designed to teach them how to improve job performance and make contacts with artists. The conferences also give them a chance to see the artists so the students know who they would like to see perform.
“I think [the conferences] are really worthwhile,” said Spencer Snow, programming coordinator. Snow said the conferences help him learn how to deal with an industry many students may be unfamiliar with.
Next year’s budget allocates $45,000 to the general operating fund. According to Thomas, the needs from this fund vary from year to year. Computers, office supplies, training and recruitment all come from this fund. The fund also pays for an audit the office needs for fund-raising projects.
The office has a reserve fund of roughly $250,000. The reserve fund is in place to help the office take risks such as booking a big name act.
The reserve also helps the office in times when it does not sell as many tickets as expected because so much of their budget is dependent on ticket sales. According to Thomas, the reserve helps the organization “plan and program with confidence.”
The Presenter’s Office budgeted $400,000 for programming for next year. This is $100,000 more than the office budgeted for programming this year. This money pays for the artist fees, production costs and hall rentals associated with putting on the Presenter’s Office shows.
Brigham Young University does not have an office similar to the Presenter’s Office, but an activities board that oversees all on-campus dances, concerts and events. According to the estimates of Jen Kusch, vice president of activities at BYU, her board puts on approximately 25 activities a year. Kusch does not see maintaining contacts with artists from year to year as a difficulty, because artists come to her to perform.
The office
has a full-time adviser to help the students plan events and activities.
Weber State University has a student programming board, similar to the Presenter’s Office. The board put on 300 events during Fall Semester, according to Jose Gomez, coordinator of student programs. These events include all of the dances, stomps, comedians, movies, concerts, family programs and diversity programs at Weber.
The programming board at Weber has $60,000 to spend on events and one full-time staff member to oversee the students. The board has had G. Love & Special Sauce perform at Weber, a group the U’s Presenter’s Office also brought in this year.
Gomez reported the student attendance to all of the events combined equal 13,000 for Fall Semester. Weber’s enrollment currently stands at 16,000.
According to the annual report from the Presenter’s Office for last year, 5,771 student tickets were purchased for the ticketed events the office held, working out to 30 percent of total event attendance. In Fall Semester 2001, 26,182 students were enrolled.
The office also estimated that 3,585 students attended the films, coffee house programs, free concerts and lectures and that 11,730 students attended the five festival events the office sponsored last year. Combining those figures, the Presenter’s Office says that 28,884 students were served through these events and the discount ticket program last year. The 28,884 figure includes the same students coming to multiple events and students walking by the music festivals.
“Short of the athletic department, I believe the Presenter’s Office reaches a larger and more diverse group of students than any other group on campus,” Dean of Students Landward said. “I think what they do is worthwhile, it reaches a population on campus who may not appreciate other activities.”