Forums provide feedback on athletics, activities budget

After much deliberation, the 2014-15 MHCC student activities and athletics budget has been finalized.

The ASG Senate voted unanimously Thursday to adopt the budget, after ASG administrators gave their unanimous approval on Tuesday.

The votes capped a difficult process this winter. Each student program was asked to decrease its proposed budget by 17 percent to reflect the anticipated (and ongoing) decrease in MHCC enrollment and the resulting drop in student fees that pay for athletics and activities.

ASG hosted two budget forums on March 3 and 6 to present the budget package that student groups had submitted to the Student Finance Council. The Council approved the athletics budget on Feb. 13 and the activities budget on Feb. 20.

The forums offered community members – including Mt. Hood students, faculty and staff – the opportunity to comment on the collective decisions made by students who represented their programs.

ASG retains the right to alter the budget based on those public comments, but no changes were made at the Tuesday or Thursday meetings.

The budget will be reviewed by Robert Cox, MHCC dean of Student Success and Enrollment Management, and the school’s budget office before being presented to the MHCC District board.

Jonathan Beaman, ASG director of finance and Student Finance Council facilitator, said most questions asked at last week’s forums were focused on policy.

However, 48 students asked why the budget for the Forensics program (speech and debate) was not reduced more drastically, since the program’s funding has mostly held steady since the 2008-09 school year, while others have suffered larger cutbacks.

The Forensics budget for 2014-15 is currently $31,760, down just $4,214 from the current year.

Beaman explained that when Mt. Hood’s enrollment spiked (following the economic downturn in 2007-08), the Forensics budget did not swell at the same rate as those for other programs.

Meantime, nine students protested the impact of the mandated reductions on ASG itself, Beaman said. They complained it was “not fair that ASG had to cut so much,” he said.

The ASG administration decreased its budget by $52,000 for the 2014-15 school year, a decline of nearly 29 percent.

When ASG was reviewing its budget proposal, Beaman asked the group to not dwell on the “number shock.” He said Laura Aguon, current ASG president who represented ASG during the Finance Council review, knew what she was doing and that ASG can function on the budget amount approved.

Elsie Praeger, ASG chief of staff and junior representative during the process, explained the significant cuts to student government were intended to ease the burden on other activities.

Four students at the forum questioned why the student Senate retained a large sum of money.

Aguon explained the Senate funds are made available to various activities and clubs who might request assistance. As student activity groups see cutbacks, they have the opportunity to offset them with money from Senate, she said.

Beaman said it “took a little bit of convincing” to reassure students at the forum the Senate’s budget is “available to them.”

The athletics budget did not receive unanimous approval during Finance Council review, Beaman noted.

After cutbacks were adopted, an additional $2,700 surfaced that was to be returned to the budget. Debate arose on whether the money should be folded into individual sports’ budgets or into the Assigned Athletics account managed by Kim Hyatt, MHCC athletics director. Ultimately, the funds were placed in the Assigned Athletics account.

Softball representatives voted against the budget plan. David Sussman, MHCC manager of Student Union and specialized student services and the administrator who oversees the annual Finance Council proceedings, said the team did not oppose final athletics allocations but believed the overall budget-balancing process had been rushed.

Sussman said that athletics representatives were “much more involved this year” than during previous Finance Council deliberations.