On Friday, March 14, the Associated Student Government assembled for their weekly board meeting, granting a total of $1,400 to three different clubs and discussing a $60,000 withdrawal from the sustainability fund to use for future projects.
In the beginning of the semester, the ASG allocated just over $5,000 of their budget to club grants, meaning that clubs are able to send representatives to the board meetings with proposals for grants if they are needed for field trips, materials or any other expenses.
Representatives from the Gardening and Permaculture Club, the Astronomy Club and the Theater Arts club were present for this Friday’s meeting, each proposing a request for a different sum of funding.
While some financial requests were not met by the board, such as the Astronomy Club’s proposal for a $920 reimbursement to cover field trip transportation costs, the board ended up supplying all three clubs with a sum of money, ranging from $400 to $600.
“I think the Astronomy Club is amazing, but we also have to be really cognizant of our budget now,” Student Trustee Soph Kofoed admitted. “I think 400 [dollars] would be really good to give them that extra cushion but also be cognizant of the other clubs that we’re trying to support.”
The board additionally granted $600 to the Theater Arts Club for a future field trip, and $400 to the Gardening and Permaculture Club to buy new gardening supplies for their activities.
“It would be great to get some tools for the club and a place to keep the tools,” began Xavier Tennant, president of the Garden and Permaculture club, describing how they will use their funding to improve upon the West Campus permaculture gardens. “We also want to [build] some benches for people to sit and hang out.”
Following the unanimous votes to supply these clubs with funding, the board went over the current sustainability fund, a pool of money acquired from an allocation of $3 from each City College student’s tuition that supplies a fund for campus improvements.
Since the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been no Sustainability Committee, meaning that the student senate must take the reigns in finding a good use for the sustainability fund, which currently stands at $125,233.46, for eco-friendly improvements to campus facilities and student life.
“There used to be committees that did [sustainability] projects,” said Commissioner of Sustainability, Aristea Cottereau, commenting on the past benefits of the sustainability fund. “They used to redo the gardens, and take care of everything around campus that is environmentally related.”
The board discussed whether pulling a large portion of the sustainability fund’s reserve would be in the best interest of City College’s students, or if they should wait for a sustainability committee to be formed in the future.
“Considering that there’s no sustainability committee on campus, [the money would be] moved to a student activity fee where students can actually benefit from this massive amount of money that’s accumulated,” stated Commissioner of Marketing, Elle Swing.
The board proposed a withdrawal of $60,000 out of the sustainability fund for use in future projects, which is nearly half of the entire fund as it stands.
“I don’t think that by allocating this money, whether next week or the week after, that we’re deciding how to use it- we’re just deciding to use it,” Student Advocate Elena Fuentes mentioned.
Though the board did not vote on the withdrawal of the fund during the meeting, they plan on revisiting the proposal in the next few weeks, cementing a decision to use the fund, or to hold off entirely.
In other news, ASG President Elizabeth Wilmer brought up plans for an “on campus student life event,” which is a trivia contest open to student participants, where they can compete for prizes. The board allocated $600 to cover the cost of the event set-up and the prizes.
Additionally, Anastasia Savonov, chair of the Olympics Committee, announced that the student Olympics will be held on Saturday, April 13, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the La Playa Stadium.
The board’s next meeting will be held at 9 a.m. on Friday, March 22.
