Senate Beat is Putting the Fun in Funding

The September 15 Senate Public meeting began with committee reports. Student Body President Andee Gude ‘26 had nothing to report. Student Body Vice President Lucy Knight-King ‘26 reported that the Finance Committee (FinComm) met. Senator Sofie Braunstein ‘28 reported that Community for Accessibility Resources and Disability Support (CARDS) met to discuss their goals, the Reed Union Committee discussed a meeting for September 26, the Hum 110 Committee met, and that there would be a Sustainability meeting on Thursday, September 18.

Senator Manoel Pereira Lopes ‘28 was waiting to hear on Accessibility, had nothing to report regarding the JBoard and Mural Committees, and would meet with Commons on Tuesday, September 16, the Health and Counseling Center (HCC) next week, International Student Services (ISS) this week, and the Student Committee on Academic Policy and Planning (SCAPP) on Friday, September 19.

Senator Sima Fasihi ‘28 reported that the Hum 110 Committee discussed changes, including that Hum 110 has moved to be structured in more theme-based units. Please share your opinions with the senators! Fasihi also met with Residence Life and the Title IX office.

Head Treasurer Yuri Garcia ‘27 reported for FinComm that Trivia Club/Quiz Bowl requested $771.85,all of which was allocated House of Elvira (HOE) requested $1,215,all of which was allocated; and OSTEM requested $2,573.23, of which $1,240 was allocated. All three of these requests were approved. Senate would like to remind the student body that club registration closed at 5:00pm on Monday, September 15; so it is now too late to register a new club in time for Funding Hell on Sunday, September 21.

Vice Treasurer Jules Flynn ‘27 had no announcements. Treasury office hours are now being held in the Treasury Office (in the SU): Garcia from 1:30pm to 3:30pm on Mondays and Flynn from 12:30 pm to 1:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays .

Assistant Treasurer Maya Gutierrez ‘27 had no new business to report beyond initial committees. Keep an eye out for the Top 6 poll, which should have come out earlier this week!

Senator Karter Stanton ‘26 relayed some AOD reminders from Leo Cruz, the Assistant Dean of Student Rights & Responsibilities: there is no smoking weed anywhere on campus even if you’re 21 or over! This policy includes the Reed College Apartments. Stanton also relayed a reminder that medical amnesty always exists, meaning that when a student experiences a physical and/or psychological crisis while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs (AOD), neither the student in crisis nor any student calling for help will be subject to disciplinary action for personal possession or use of illicit substances, which includes consumption of alcohol by minors.

Senator Andrew Happy ‘27 had an Appointments Committee (AppComm) meeting the evening of Monday, September 15. Happy reported that the Residential College Committee met last Wednesday, September 10, and conducted a brain dump on research regarding residential colleges. Happy also had an introductory meeting with Res Life and advocated for increased notice about summer housing.

Senator Ren Raskin ‘27 reported that the Title IX Committee will be meeting soon. Senator Renata Akeed ‘28 reported that the Hum 110 and Union Committees met.

There was nothing further to report from Senate, and a themed public session about the potential student body fee increase then began.

Anna McClendon ‘28 said that they and their friends are concerned about how much it will be raised. Flynn replied that Senate was hoping to hear about those concerns, and that Senate would decide based on what Reedies think. McClendon wondered if there was a more effective way to communicate this information besides a mostly empty public. Student Body President Gude mentioned that Senate communicates by email through SB Info, and that there are other avenues for people to communicate opinions, such as coming to office hours. Vice President Knight-King made a note to put senators’ office hours in the next SB email. (Note from the Quest: Senators’ office hours are included in the SB email sent on Monday, September 15.)

Isabel Chrysos ‘28 wondered what budget cuts could be expected if the fee were to stay the same. Gutierrez replied with bleak news: Senate covers appointments, clubs, Renn Fayre, FinComm, and the Senate discretionary fund. All of those have been cut in the past semester, so unless the SB fund were to be increased, similar budget cuts could be expected in the future. The one that hurts Reedies the most would be cuts to student body positions. Club funding was very difficult last semester, as well. Gutierrez was not optimistic that funding could continue the way it has been, and lamented a potential loss of Reed culture due to the lack of financial support for student activities.

Flynn further commented on the worrying financial situation. Last year, even though Senate was making more money from the SB fee due to the larger senior class size, they were only able to allocate 50% of requested funds for student organizations. Flynn expects that, unfortunately, something similar may happen this semester. Senate is already having discussions about what positions to cut and how to fund identity groups and general clubs. Senate is also worried that they will not have the budget this year to pay for positions that existed last year. Senate wants to be able to reward people for their work, but it is increasingly seeming like they cannot sufficiently do that with the amount of funds they have.

Gude commiserated with Flynn on the situation. They pointed out that the compensation for positions is important because by offering up financial incentives, we are opening up the hiring pool to people with financial barriers, in addition to the fact that people should be compensated in general for working to keep Reed running.

Chrysos also asked if student workers only get funds from the SB fee, or from Reed in addition. Maya Gutierrez clarified that student workers in student body positions only get funds from the SB fee. Stanton explained that part of the reason that the SB fee is the only source of funding is so that these positions can stay autonomous.

Knight-King reiterated that Senate will see a decreased ability to fund clubs and student positions if the SB fee is not increased, given that the student body is getting smaller and inflation is increasing.

Stella Greer ‘29 asked how much the SB fee would potentially increase by. She wondered if an increase would be a disadvantage to students from a low-SES background. Garcia replied that Senate has been having long discussions with administration but haven’t had a chance to collect all the necessary information, so there is no exact number yet.

However, Flynn did explain a tentative idea that is in the works. Senate wants to increase the SB fee in proportion with the amount that tuition has been raised, but doesn’t want to impose on people directly. Currently, Senate is planning a gradual four- or five-year increase—perhaps a $20 increase each year over a period of five years, so that, by the end of 2032, the fee would have increased by $100. Knight-King emphasized that this is not a final number, and Senate is not yet at a stage where any number is set for sure.

Gutierrez mentioned that, if Senate has to leave positions vacant or continue without increasing stipends, then they will be less accessible to students from low-income backgrounds compared to students from affluent backgrounds. An important goal is to make sure the available positions allow students to be compensated fairly, as that will help them to be accessible to students from low-income backgrounds.

Knight-King considered that increasing the SB fee would increase people’s cost of attendance, and that might impact financial aid. Garcia was optimistic that increasing the SB fee just as much as is necessary for current funding needs hopefully won’t have too much impact on the total cost of attendance. The current SB fee is about 0.34% of the total amount paid by students each year; if the proposed plan goes through, it will be a few years before the new fee is even implemented, which will happen gradually. As someone who is on financial aid, Gude was also curious to know more, but is also hopeful that the SB fee will continue to be covered by financial aid. Flynn talked with Vice President for Student Life Karnell McConnell Black and is under the impression that, as part of the direct cost of going to reed, the SB fee would be covered by financial aid.

As to how an increase to the SB fee would be beneficial, Gude expressed a concern for the economic stability of the current and future student body as a main reason behind the increase, as well as supporting student autonomy. Knight-King agreed that we should act on behalf of future Reedies. Since this process is going to take five to six years, if we don’t start now, we might be in a worse place in the future, and even a small increase will be more and more valuable.

Garcia clarified that Senate is not going through a “crisis,” they are trying to prevent one. Garcia provided some context for what’s going on and where they’re currently at: in the past, Senate was not being especially strict about how much money was coming in and going out, which wasn’t a huge issue because there was a lot of cushion from funds left over from COVID. However, at the rate Senate is spending money, it will be unsustainable and they will run out of money to fully fund things — which they want to avoid. Seeing as clubs’ requested purchases have been getting more expensive of late, Senate wants to increase the SB fee, not necessarily to increase the amount of activities the student body can do, but just to fill existing funding needs, so they don’t run into a funding crisis.

Garcia mentioned that Senate has been looking at other options, like getting funding from elsewhere on campus. Garcia reminded everyone that they are welcome to email or attend office hours (available earlier in this article) with more questions.

In addition to clubs, Fasihi emphasized the importance of keeping paid positions. A lot of student body positions paid with SB funds carry institutional memory. If we don’t have, say, an assistant manager to train, a lot of knowledge gets lost. Knight-King added that, while it may feel unfair that everyone’s SB money gets funneled into a few people who hold SB-funded positions, these jobs (like pool hall manager and SU manager) make spaces available to benefit everyone. Happy, Gude, and Flynn agreed that your SB fee will come back to you, and this amount that everyone pays into that has a tangible outcome—the things that make the student body what it is can only be made possible with the money we put into it. In particular, Flynn mentioned how important this money is for funding senators, clubs, harm reduction, Renn Fayre, and more things that keep Reed running! Raskin reported that Senate has already run into issues of efficacy in some areas because they don’t have enough funding.

An unidentified member of the audience thanked Senate for having an open public and said that they feel like they understand the issues a lot more. Flynn told the Quest to specifically include the fact that there were five members of the student body in the audience! Director of the Office of Student Engagement Janice Yang was also present. Six audience members is a lot! Thank you Reed for showing up, and thank you Senate for hosting! 

If you have any further questions or thoughts, Senate would love to hear from you! Email warroom@groups.reed.edu to contact everyone, or visit individual senators during their office hours, which are listed in SB Info. Senate emphasized that Fizz is not the way to get in touch with them—coming and talking to them is how change can happen! Or you can just send them an email. Please, get in touch. They would love to hear your thoughts and they’re so lonely.

Keep up with the next Senate Public on Monday, September 22, at 4:10pm in the SU.