Point Park University’s United Student Government (USG) is currently managing its budget closely after it was discovered that a large portion of its budget had already been unexpectedly spent.
The governing body reviewed their budget and discovered they were left with only approximately $2,200 for the rest of the fiscal year. This figure does not account for USG’s officer stipends.
“We don’t want to say [the funds] are missing because we know where they are and where they went to,” said USG president Blaine King Thursday in the library. “We thought when we payed for certain things that they were already taken care of and paid for when we told them to be paid for, but how funding rolls throughout the university, it takes a while for something to actually go through…That’s where it kind of blindsided us, because we didn’t realize we’d gotten hit [with the charges] until around now.”
The charges in question were the bills that USG has to pay for OrgSync, the university’s bike program and purchasing the playhouse tickets for university students. King said USG believed that they had allocated funds to pay for these charges last summer, at the end of the last fiscal year.
Those bills were not paid for over last summer and instead were charged throughout this fiscal year. USG had allocated funds specifically for the charges to be paid during that time. “We knew that we would be able to pay for them over [last] summer and set money aside for them,” King said. “It turns out none of that stuff got paid for over the summer, and we got hit with it throughout the fall.”
USG was charged for the bike program in the fall semester and was just charged for OrgSync and the playhouse tickets recently, according to King. The money allocated for the summer session totalled $7,000, with $5,000 of that specifically set aside for OrgSync and the bike program. At the end of the fiscal year, unspent money from the USG is absorbed back into the university’s general fund.
King said there was no communication from the business department regarding a failure of the allocated budget to go through last summer, saying that USG gets all of their budget information from Student Affairs and the Office of Student Activities, Involvement and Leadership (SAIL).
Point Park’s Dean of Students Keith Paylo said he believes there were no large communication breakdowns, and the ones that did occur had “minimal” impact on funding. “There may have been some misunderstandings. There may have been a couple of ideas where USG might have felt that they didn’t know that those funds were being released or vica versa,” said Paylo during an interview in his office Monday afternoon.
USG still has Forum and Pioneer Community Day to plan and budget from the remaining $2,200 in the account. Amber Mole, the USG treasurer, said Forum has been largely paid for already, and that the USG will turn their attention towards Pioneer Community Day.
“Right now, our main concern is PCD, to make it a successful event that is enjoyable for the students,” Mole said during a telephone interview.
Moving forward, USG has had conversations with SAIL and the Office of Student Affairs to ensure that a similar budget problem does not occur again in the future. King believes the fiscal process, or the way that account activity trickles down to the USG, was part of the problem.
“Nobody is sure of it, and we’re just waiting to see how everything is broken down,” King said. “We’re working to prevent it in the future, to keep a tighter track of things from our point of view so others can avoid this in the future as well.”
King added that a greater deal of transparency for account activity would help USG keep a tighter track of their budget.
One measure that has already been decided focuses on the OrgSync bill that USG has to pay every year.
“What I’ve already told USG for next year is funds are going to be reserved in future years, so USG will not see the cost of that,” Paylo said. “They will not see and have to allocate funds for OrgSync. I’ve made that decision for next year. They will be saving those resources for next year.” The Office of Student Affairs will pick up a larger portion of the tab for OrgSync beginning next year, according to Paylo.
Both King and Paylo are confident that USG can survive with the budget they currently have until the end of the fiscal year. USG is looking into purchases and expenditures made in the past that they can roll back to possibly compensate.
“The fear will always be there, but we’re confident we’ll be able to pay for [the bike program, playhouse tickets and OrgSync] if it rolls to us, even if we have to pay for them in the fall semester,” said King. “We want to find a solution so we don’t have this happen in the future.”
King emphasized that student activities will not be affected by USG’s remaining budget.
“I don’t look at this as [USG is] in a bad situation or dire need, or that students should see any impact or will see any impact,” Paylo said. “I’m confident that students still have the ability to be active and carry out a lot of different things within their organizations.”
Paylo expressed that the university will be ready to assist USG if they do not have the necessary remaining funds to operate up to the end of the fiscal year. USG’s Forum, an open house for student interaction with USG, is planned for this Saturday, March 26 from 2-5 p.m. and Pioneer Community Day will take place April 2.
