In difficult budget times, even Chico State’s Associated Students are feeling the pinch.
Activity Fee funds have been reduced for Chico State programs as part of the budgeting process for Associated Students programs, as well as Government Affairs.
The Activity Fee, paid by Chico State students, funds staff-managed and student-run programs including the Community Legal Information Center, Community Action Volunteers in Education, the Child Development Lab, KCSC Radio and the Women’s Center. It also funds the B-Line student shuttles, the Cross-Cultural Leadership Center, the Environmental Action and Resource Center, student government and other corporate expenses.
Money for the Activity Fee fund is created by a required $58 per student per semester, said Jon Slaughter, director of A.S. programs and government affairs. The budget depends entirely on student enrollment, which has been decreased this year, a trend that is predicted to continue for the next few years.
A 20 percent budget reduction was applied to these programs this year, Slaughter said. Through this fiscal management, the Activity Fee re-captured about $110,000.However, not every program felt the reduction equally.
The budget decisions are a collaborative effort between the students and program heads, making it a collective understanding and decision-making process, Slaughter said.
“We’re being proactive in making that move now,” he said.
Many programs have funds that cannot be reduced, such as existing contracts, Slaughter said. For example, CLIC has a normal budget of $74,290 and pays $22,050 in rent, which cannot be reduced. The 20 percent reduction was taken from the remaining $52,240.
The largest programs received the largest budget reductions, Slaughter said. The Child Development Lab’s budget was reduced by $19,400 and CAVE’s budget was reduced by $18,600.
These are the largest operational programs, therefore they received the largest reductions, Slaughter said.
Government Affairs lost $11,958 and the Women’s Center’s budget was reduced $11,906 — voluntarily more than 20 percent, he said.
EARC and KCSC both were budgeted for about $4,500 less. The total reduction to programs was $110,677.
Despite the reductions, these programs have not been hurt significantly, Slaughter said.
“I don’t think we have drastically handicapped any program from not offering its essential services,” he said. “I think our students understand that.”
In retrospect, the programs were basically running themselves at this budget level before the reductions were made, making it that much easier to deal with the current fiscal situation, said Denise Crosswhite, programs coordinator of A.S. Programs and Government Affairs.
“The directors have done an amazing job of facing this and taking responsibility and moving forward,” Crosswhite said.
Programs were given their budget and the freedom of responsibility to choose how to manage it, Slaughter said. Staffs in general were not laid off. However, there were a few positions unfilled. Hours were cut back, for the most part equally between staff members.
Due to the reductions, services provided by programs have been re-evaluated and programs are not using as many outside sources as they normally would, said Jillian Ruddell, director of the Women’s Center. Programs are using a lot of volunteers and keeping their events more community oriented.
“It’s definitely taking away from the students’ experience,” she said. “But I don’t think they notice.”
If the trend of the economy and decline in enrollment continue, the Activity Fee budget coordinators will have to find other ways to fund programs, Slaughter said. A fee increase is not the first choice.
“We need to be responsible and we need to tighten our belts during this economic time,” Crosswhite said.
The directors are also looking at what they are doing now and how these changes may need to continue, she said.
Budgets for the programs may be reduced again, but will not be an equal cut such as this round’s 20 percent, Slaughter said. Some program budgets may be reduced more than others, depending on factors such as importance and necessity to students, trends of use and hours of operation.
What concerns students the most seems to be the B-Line, but Slaughter said that budget was one to keep at its essential balance. A majority of B-Line riders are college students, which assures the staff that it is a necessity.
However, if more reductions do need to be made and enrollment continues to decline, some programs may be suspended or eliminated and staff will have to be evaluated as well, Slaughter said.
In relation, all campus-based fees will be evaluated, including the Activity Fee, Student Union, Instructionally Related Activities, IRA Athletics and the Student Health Center, he said. All of these programs are in the same position as the Activity Fee fund.
“What we have done this year has certainly shored up our financial security,” Slaughter said. “But even if we kept everything exactly the same for next year, we’re already $232,000 in the hole.”
As a last resort, fees may be raised, Slaughter said. The last substantial fee increase for the Activity Fee was in 1998 and the council does not want to do it again, especially because of all the other fee increases and the current economic situation.
“We’re looking ahead, which is smart,” Ruddell said.
Nicole Landini can be reached at
nlandini@theorion.com
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