OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
The Daily Barometer
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DAILYBAROMETER
MONDAY JANUARY 26, 2015 VOL. CXVII, NO. 70
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Discussions continue among administrators, student leaders to organize overall process of student fee-funded budgets
“The student government always had the final say in moving the student fee allocation forward to the president’s office,” said Taylor Sarman, president of the Associated Students of Oregon State University and student representative on the OSU board of By Sean Bassinger trustees. THE DAILY BAROMETER Traditionally, the Student and Incidental Fees Oregon State University is dealing with Committee has reviewed all budgets proposed by feeorganizations and modifies them with input the ramifications of an amended statute funded following an ASOSU joint-session with the House and that could shift the way student and Senate. Following this process, the final approval for budgets is then made by the SIFC and forwarded to incidental fees are approved. Signed into law back in July 2013, Senate Bill 270 OSU President Ed Ray. grants independent governing boards to OSU, the In addition to continuing support and review from University of Oregon and Portland State University. the ASOSU legislative branch, the new statute could As the Oregon University System transitioned to potentially increase ASOSU’s involvement with the independent governing boards, statutes transitioned overall budgeting process, according to Sarman. as well. One such statute, ORS 352.105, addresses “Senate Bill 270 changed and modified a lot of the who has the final authority to approve student and structure,” he said. “Nobody could predict the kind incidental fees at each university. of changes that came out completely.” Working with the new board of trustees, the statute Though they continue to work with ASOSU, the reads that “the recognized student government” of SIFC is best described as a completely independent each institution must approve all student and inci- organization. dental fee-funded activities. “We’ve inherited a process that hasn’t necessarily But what groups fall under the definition of “recogSee FEES | page 3 nized student government” is not clear. n
GRAPHICS BY ERIC WINKLER THE DAILY BAROMETER
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