The Plattsburgh State Student Association held its 10th session of the semester in the Cardinal Lounge of the Angell College Center Wednesday night.
SA President Jessica Falace announced she will contact the SUNY Board of Trustees to see if they have reviewed the proposal for the change in the SUNY Display of the Flag policy on April 19. The current policy has not been updated since Nov. 14, 1984.
Accounting and finance double major Shiyineeim Nartey-Tokoli succeeded in persuading the board to vote to raise the mandatory SA fee included in students’ tuitions from $97 to $110 for next semester.
“I’m ecstatic,” Nartey-Tokoli said. “It was deserved, and in order for us to continue supporting our students, as a college, the fee was needed.”
Nartey-Tokoli fought hard for the budget to be raised to exactly $110 to support the organizations on campus. Only about five organizations, out of more than 100, receive travel grants, which permit members to attend and fund trips and events. He believes the raise will provide each organization with an equal chance.
“According to HEPI [higher education price index], we have to raise the mandatory SA fee by 2.6 percent every year, so with HEPI, our fee would have been $100 in the fall semester,” he said.
Nartey-Tokoli was driven to get his proposal passed because of budget cuts that PSUC has taken this year.
“This year we had a big budget cut,” Nartey-Tokoli said. “We are planning to do a lot more on campus for diversity.”
Vice President of Student Affairs Bryan Hartman spoke before the senate to inform students how the budget and enrollment figures can affect the SA.
“If we don’t budget for the correct number of students who will be billed the SA fee, no matter what the fee is, and build a budget to match that expected revenue, the health of the organization from a financial perspective could change,” Hartman said.
Hartman explained how PSUC has adjusted the budget in order to match the current enrollment for the fall.
“These last couple years we’ve just discovered we were budgeting assuming more students would be paying the SA fee than actually did, and so we reduced,” Hartman said. “Unfortunately, we still don’t have a process that is 100 percent certain. It’s always a moving target because we never know how many students will end up being here.”
Additionally, the PSUC Chemical Society was approved for up to $150 for shirts to promote their club during open house later this month.
The Comic Book Club was approved for $155 to purchase 10 copies of the graphic novel “Persepolis.”
The Anthropology Club was approved for up to $210 for an educational trip to Burlington,Vermont, on May 5.
The National Association of Black Accountants was approved for $700 for its third annual banquet and fashion show, as well as two conference trips in October and during the summer.
Black Onyx was approved for up to $1,770 to fund their upcoming week of events including “It’s a Stereotype,” an event in which participants address various stereotypes pertaining to different races by fulfilling them.
Email Mataeo Smith at news@cardinalpointsonline.com
