Student Body President Tayler Clough is working on fulfilling his promise to be fiscally responsible with student fees8212;and he’s organizing a team to help him.
During his campaign, Clough promised to create a student fee committee to help oversee fair allocation of students’ money. Clough’s administration said it would combine student boards and cut the size of their stipends in order to redistribute up to $22,800 back to student groups.
The Associated Students of the University of Utah administration is in the process of selecting as many as five administrators to be in a committee that would reassess student fees and generate ideas of what to do with them, including the freed-up $22,800.
Annie Nebeker Christensen, dean of students, and Lori McDonald, associate dean of students, are in consideration for two of those positions, Clough said. The panel will also include Clough, ASUU Vice President Rachel Rizzo and two students to be selected once the positions open for applicants this fall.
Although the committee would not control what happens with the fees, Clough said it is a way for students to have more representation in what happens with their money.
The committee would report its recommendations to the U administration, which would in turn discuss them with the Board of Trustees and the Board of Regents, which has the final say on whether the proposed changes to student fees would go into effect.
The new administration is also moving toward further fiscal transparency. Rizzo said that ASUU will start posting its monthly budget online, hopefully beginning before the end of summer.
Clough said if a student has any questions about the budget, he or she can come into the ASUU office and take an in-depth look at the books at any time.