Attendees:
Titus Butcher, Chair ASGRCC Finance Committee
Frank Niu, Senator ASGRCC Finance Committee
Anteii Brim, Senator ASGRCC Finance Committee (Ex-officio)
Aera Shin, Senator ASGRCC Finance Committee
Titus called the meeting to order at 6:15 with introductions.
Titus asked if anyone had any requests or ideas to get started with. Fred said he has heard that they are hoping to build a smoking shelter. Titus said the Finance Committee has discussed this with Sam Ball because there is about $48,000 remaining in the budget. He said they have talked about the possibility of helping purchase a new bus and/or a smoking shelter. Fred said that he is on the Safety Committee and has some concerns about building a smoking shelter. The Master Plan is one of those concerns as well as enforcement of smoking policies and there is discussion on becoming a non-smoking campus. Titus said Sam Ball said it could be possible to get a shelter built next year. Fred said that because it would be part of the 10 year master plan it will have to be approved by administration. He added that other campuses have changed to non-smoking and it is being considered here. Titus asked how it is enforced. Fred said he does not have enough funding for enforcement and said that it could become a student conduct issue. He said we currently follow the RCW's and there are no sanctions for people in violation. Titus asked Fred about the shuttle buses. Fred said that campus parking is inadequate and with the numbers of students that are using the shuttles they cannot keep up with the demand during peak hours. He would like to purchase two larger shuttles that will be able to carry more students to help the situation. He does not know firm amounts yet but the shuttles have an impact on all students because even if they don't ride it there is still less traffic congestion around the college and it frees up parking that would otherwise be full. Titus asked how much the new shuttles will cost. Fred said it will be about $230,000 – 250,000 for two shuttles. Titus asked where he will get the money. Fred said they do have a fund balance and will try to find other sources. Titus asked if the transportation budget comes from the general fund. Fred said it comes from the facilities fee that students pay. Titus said he will need firm figures before March 2 because that is when the budget will be set. Fred said he had been considering asking for the Blue Book value of the shuttle to cover what he could get from a trade in. Titus asked if Fred would be the one to set the policy for use of the shuttle. Fred said he would not set it, he would ask for input from the groups using it and students.
Deb asked if the committee would consider a request to fund the One Book program for about $5,000. April will not fund the program next year. The books that are purchased go to students. She added that one of the suggestions for the situation with The Current was to have a One Book selection that would address the issue. Titus asked where the money has been coming from. Deb said the first year was a onetime grant and last year April paid for it. Titus asked if she would like a yearly budget or supplemental. Deb said a yearly budget would be great but with the knowledge that budgets will likely decrease it might be better to keep it in the supplemental budget for now. Titus asked what the One Book program is. Deb explained that a book is selected and is widely used across campus in classes and for staff as well and it is a topic of discussion campus wide. This year the book was Three Cups of Tea and there was also an A&S event with the author of the book. Aera asked if students can keep the books. Deb said some return them and most keep them. Dani said everyone can participate even if they aren't in a class that is reading it. Anteii asked how students get the book. Dani said she thinks it is through the Library and students learn about it from posters, the web and just the buzz around campus. Frank asked when this started. Deb said we have done this for two years, many campuses participate in this and have all incoming freshmen read the book. Anton said that he had to buy the book as part of one class. Deb said that the President's Commission on Diversity read the book, last year she purchased books for her staff to read. Frank asked if there has been any feedback from students. Dani said she hasn't heard a lot except through the A&S program this year. Anteii asked if she thinks most students are getting it through classes. Dani said she can't answer that. Nicole Swapp said she heard about it in an anthropology class as recommended reading but there was no mention of it for an English class. Brandon asked what would happen to the money if it isn't used. Titus said they will decide what to do with the money on Tuesday and will balance the budget then. Unspent money goes into a reserve fund which will eventually be used for the new building. Debbie asked when the money rolls over. Susan said June 30th. Brandon suggested using left over money for A&S to bring in bigger name speakers/performers. Aera asked about giving it to clubs. Brandon replied that of course clubs would love it but he thinks the better use would be for A&S. Nicole asked if they can make suggestions at the next meeting. Titus said that at the next meeting they will discuss the budget and then set it at the end of the meeting. Deb asked that the supplemental request for Student Services be changed to Student Services and Retention to make sure it goes to current students. Fred said that the shuttles can also be used for marketing, he would like to install DVD players that could play promotional pieces and other campus advertisements. He suggested that it could be a class gift.
Titus said that the Finance Committee went though the expenditures for the last two years and looked at which budgets did not use all their money both years. There were four budgets that they noted that were not fully used. Line 1306 in Administrative for phones, there was over $1,000 left each year. The Executive budget, line 1311 in ASGRCC has not used theirs, the Fitness Center, 1308 has had $2,000 left over at the end of each year, and Diversity and Cultural Awareness, line 1364 has had a lot left over. Deb urged caution with line 1364 because a new director has just finished his first year and that is having an effect on the activity of the clubs. Titus said they are considering cutting all or part of the LSC Remodel budget. He said the money goes to the reserve fund to be used for remodeling or enhancements of the student center. He thinks it would be a better use of the money to go to something else. He would rather increase other line items and if it isn't used it will still go to the reserve fund. Deb said she has a request for the kitchen for several items for the kitchen. They would like a new tilted grill that costs about $30,000, they also need to upgrade two of their walk in coolers that currently have to be defrosted weekly to maintain the correct temperature. The coolers cost about $12,000 each. She added that everyone complains about the food that they serve but with better equipment they could improve the quality and that would affect many students. Titus asked if they will move this equipment to the new building. Deb said they would. He asked who pays for items in the kitchen now and the work that is done. Deb said normally facilities pays but they don't have the money for this. Titus said he has the impression that it is hard to get and keep contracts for food service. Deb said it has been, right now the contract with Chartwells is renewed yearly. Titus said that after the move to the new building facilities will purchase the new equipment and if it is purchased now the students will pay. Deb said that is a possibility, no one knows what the needs will be in 2014. Titus asked if the new equipment would fit in the current space. Deb said she has a proposal from Chartwells and everything will fit. Titus asked why we would spend remodel money on this building, he thinks that money should be moved to the supplemental budget. Becky said it makes sense to spend the remodel, why move it to the supplemental budget. Titus said no one knows where that money is spent. Dani said that isn't true, there are complete records of where that money has been spent. Titus said the supplemental budget is more specific. Deb said she has concerns about this, she explained that Rich Rutkowski has held money in reserve and as a result Green River has been in a much better position than other colleges throughout this budget crisis. Titus said his intent is to spend the current budget on current students, if it doesn't get spent it still goes to the reserve. Having the money in the supplemental budget gives them a better chance to use it. Deb said it is very possible that there will only be a supplemental budget this one year. Titus said it should only be a last resort. Deb emphasized again that having a reserve has gotten us to where we are today when other campuses are in much worse shape that we are. Titus said that students are less likely to use the reserves. Fred added that they shouldn't spend just to spend. Becky said she agrees. Dani suggested using the reserve fund for the grill. Susan added that the reserve fund hasn't been used because it hasn't been needed because there has been enough money in the budget for what we need. Titus said that his perception is that this money isn't to be touched and ultimately it is the voting members who will decide.
Debbie asked if there are caps on honorariums. Dani said there aren't except by budget limitations.
Nicole said that The Current needs new computers. Aera asked how many they have, Nicole said they currently have eight and are getting four new ones but only three have the program that is used to lay out the paper. Susan said that Student Life has a fund for that and they can also ask senate. Deb asked if this is an instructional lab. Nicole said it is. 522 funds cannot be used for instruction. Titus asked if they have considered becoming a club.
The next meeting is Tuesday March 2 at 3:00
The meeting was adjourned at 7:26.
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