Due to pending state budget cuts and amidst a current 5 percent budget cut, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Joseph Watson is asking departments affiliated with his office to begin planning around a possible 20 percent reduction in funding for next year. This reduction may adversely affect the future of vending machine allocations given by UCSD Housing and Dining Services to the six deans of Student Affairs, who have traditionally passed those allocations on to the college councils.
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Watson cited overall cuts for this year that amount to nearly $1 million. To address these cuts, there was a 5 percent across-the-board cut in the Student Affairs registration fee budget. The possible 20 percent budget reduction is a number that was proposed by Gov. Gray Davis and is a figure Watson hopes will be reduced.
“”We’re trying to plan carefully for this in a way that will minimize the adverse effects on students and also try and minimize the adverse effects on staff,”” Watson said.
Watson said the overall 20 percent cut would be more specifically distributed across all the departments by cutting funding to some more than others.
“”We’re not going to make close to 20 percent cuts in all departments,”” he said. “”But some departments might get cuts much deeper than 20 percent, and others much less than 20 percent.””
The college councils, which have traditionally received vending machine allocations at the discretion of their college’s deans, may have to do without the allocation as early as next year because the college deans may look to the allocations as a means to supplement deep budget cuts.
Already, the overall vending machine allocations distributed by Housing and Dining Services to the college deans’ offices has declined since last year due to decreased use of campus vending machines and the addition of Sixth College, which caused the overall allocation to be further divided.
“”A large part of it has to do with a lot of [coffee] carts and other different enterprises set up on campus,”” said Thurgood Marshall College Dean of Student Affairs Ashanti Houston-Hands. “”A lot of people will tend to go to those places, and it will tend to cut back on vending machines.””
This year, the base allocation for each college is $1,456. Additionally, each college receives a proportional amount based on a rate of $1.41 per student registered for fall enrollment. The largest allocation went to Earl Warren College at $6,144 and was followed by John Muir College, Marshall college, Revelle College and Eleanor Roosevelt College. The smallest amount, $1,751, went to Sixth College.
Already, Patricia Scott, dean of Student Affairs at ERC, has decided to retain the $4,691 vending machine allocation to make up for budget cuts to her office, which have amounted to about $2,000 and were announced in mid-January, according to Scott.
Scott defended retaining the entire allocation, citing the 20 percent cuts anticipated for next year.
“”Up until this year, we have made those funds available to our student council,”” Scott said. “”However, in light of the budget cuts and in light of the referendum passing, it has been my position this year to provide for programs that will still benefit students, but that come out of my office. I will retain this money this year.””
Scott said she wanted to maintain her office’s “”wide variety”” of college programs, which include leadership, cultural, recreation and social programs.
Scott says the allocation was retained after notifying the Student Council of Eleanor Roosevelt College of the decision.
For SCERC Chair Harish Nandagopal, the loss of the yearly allocation is made up for by the recently passed college fee referendum that provides SCERC with a $5 per student per quarter income and that amounts to about $15,000 a quarter.
“”I’m glad that she consulted with us before she withheld the money,”” he said. “”I understand why she did it. I probably would have done the same in her position, because of the budget cuts.””
At Warren college, Dean of Student Affairs Jeffrey Philpott said that while his office has traditionally given the allocation to Warren College Student Council, the threat of budget cuts may affect whether his office retains the allocation.
“”I can’t say that next year things won’t be different, because we will lose funding and things change, so until we get directions from the vice chancellor’s office, I can’t say right now what’s going to happen to the money next year,”” he said.
Not all colleges, however, plan on retaining the money. At Muir college, Dean of Student Affairs Patricia Mahaffey said she is looking for alternative ways to supplement cuts in order to give next year’s allocation to Muir College Council.
“”I’m somewhat resistant from taking the vending machine money away from MCC,”” she said.
Mahaffey said she might cut funding from her office that goes to student groups and organizations, and instead have those groups go to MCC for all their funding.
MCC, which is currently benefiting from a recently passed fee referendum, is operating with a budget of $94,850.
Currently, Mahaffey said that her office enacted a hiring freeze and would not be replacing the college’s activity coordinator until this summer. She also said that cuts were made to money going to support student workers, but in return the college covers that money directly.
Four of the six colleges — Revelle, Muir, Marshall and ERC — passed fee referenda that have already given the councils larger budgets. Both Warren college and Sixth College are considering proposing their own fee referenda.
