BU Allocations Board to Institute New Policy

buab

The BU Allocations Board hosted a town hall meeting Tuesday to discuss an upcoming policy change coming into effect fall of 2013.  The Allocations Board is responsible for determining the distribution of a portion of the Undergraduate Student Fee, a mandatory cost included in every student’s tuition, to eligible student groups.  Under the new system, any money allocated from the AB to student groups for philanthropic events would have to be returned before any proceeds can go to charity.

buab
Promotional photo provided by the BU Allocations Board.

Say your student group wants to host a charitable event, but you need $5,000 to cover the initial costs (venue, talent, food, etc.).  Under the current system, you would make a presentation to the AB, and if they decide your event is worthy and likely to succeed, they will give you the $5,000 you need, no money back.  If the event raises $6,000, all of that money goes straight to charity.

Under the new policy, before you can send your proceeds to charity, you would have to return the $5,000 back to the allocations board, meaning that only $1,000 would be donated.  It would essentially be a loaning system instead of its current incarnation as a philanthropic student events board.  To use a current example, the sorority Alpha Delta Pi and the fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu recently joined to put on a concert featuring electronic DJ Kap Slap in the Metcalf Ballroom.  Using funds from the AB, the two rented out the venue and paid the artist close to $9,000.  The show was sold out and made almost $8,000, all of which went to charity.  A fun concert for the students and benefits a good cause, right?  If the new policy is instituted, the end result is a loss of $1,000 to the Allocations Board and no money to charity.

At the town hall meeting, Assistant Dean of Students John Battaglino entertained questions from a crowd of over one hundred students for an hour and a half.  His justification for the decision was as follows:

  • The new system encourages smart planning and accountability, providing students with real world philanthropic experience.
  • It promotes alternate forms of funding: students can no longer solely rely on Allocations Board for their events.
  • Last year there were $2 million worth of requests, and only $600,000 allocated.  Now many more student groups will have their needs met.
  • It is not the responsibility of the University to directly give money to charity.  The AB’s funding is taken from every student; what if not everyone wants their money going to charity?
  • If students truly cared about charity, they would donate money on their own – if you can’t convince others to support your cause, it’s no fault of the AB.

After impassioned rebuttals by many students, Battaglino admitted that the decision had already been made, and the new policy would go into effect regardless of what was said at the meeting.  At this point, half the room got up and left.

Aside from deceiving the large group (as well as the AB’s president) into thinking that the meeting was an open dialogue and not a justification, Battaglino’s responses to student concerns ranged from dismissive and wrong-headed to borderline offensive.

Here are the facts: the AB only funds the events they deem worthy and profitable; though many more requests were submitted than granted, they were rejected because they didn’t meet the board’s standards.  In fact, the AB ended last year with a several thousand-dollar surplus.  Its members asked not for more money to distribute to more student groups, but for more quality proposals so that the money could go to worthy causes.

If instituted, the new policy will ultimately discourage events from happening, robbing students of community events and charities of vital funds.  If all funds borrowed must be repaid, there will not be enough incentive for groups to host events, knowing that proceeds will be at best, meager, and at worst, nonexistent.  To compensate, ticket prices will rise, attendance will drop, and even less money will be generated.  Even if events continue and are profitable, their scale will be much smaller; it’d be hard to see almost $7,000 going to charity again.  The rationale is that the policy change benefits more groups. But isn’t $7,000 for one cause better than $2,000 divided up among a few?

Battaglino and the administration can point to how this new policy benefits students more, but the essential fact is that money is being taken out of the hands of charitable organizations and remaining in BU’s.  Some of the most recent causes to receive donations thanks in part to funding from the AB: Haitian earthquake relief, clean water sources, Ronald McDonald House Foundation, and autism research.  It’s unconscionable to rob these causes of the funds that students are passionate about giving, while the University constructs luxurious dining halls and dormitories year-by-year.

Battaglino asserted that the policy change was permanent regardless of student protest, but that shouldn’t stop students from taking whatever action they can.  Write e-mails to the administration, organize rallies, publicize the decision.  It may be your small way of making a difference in the BU community as well as the world at large.

About Jon Giardiello

Jon (COM '15) is from Wayne, New Jersey and doesn't think your jokes about it are very funny. He is majoring in Film/TV and minoring in Journalism. In between his brilliant Quad posts, he is one of the executive producers on BUTV10's own Terrier Nation.

View all posts by Jon Giardiello →

16 Comments on “BU Allocations Board to Institute New Policy”

  1. The true cost of the KapSlap concrt is much higher than simply the artists fee. Although he was only 9k, the use of Metcalf as a venue runs over 10k a show. When you include all the costs, the concert was highly unprofitable.

    Although I hate seeing charity suffer, the current system results in AB making the donation. The students get a concert out of it, but is this type of programming sensible? I don’t think so.

    What’s really concerning is the administrations lack of consideration for the views of the student body. This is BU though, nothing new on that subject.

  2. Actually, even though I do agree that BU probably has more than enough dough in undergraduate fees alone to dole out to wherever, they’re not wrong. So, you planned an event with BU money to raise funds for a charity of your choice. You came up short or broke even with the money BU gave you? Well then… that’s what you got. If you’re planning sucked and you paid too much for entertainment or venue, then just assuming you “get” the money that BU gave you (to put on the show) to give out to wherever is just kindof lazy. What IS wrong with this is that The Dude in charge of the AB held a “town meeting” only to announce that they already made the decision regardless of what anyone there had to say. I think the only way you can satisfy both groups is if a percentage of the BU funds end up going to charity as well as the profits, so students don’t have to repay the loan in entirety, and BU’s doing a bit “more” that way. Also, even just a loan itself that makes an event happen and even gives groups the opportunity to raise money for charity is a pretty big base for groups raising money for non-profits that might be getting overlooked. That being said, I think BU could do a bit more for its student groups in terms of how much is needed to be payed back for the loans, but at the same time student groups need to get creative and have a budget that allows for a true profit that they raise to give to charity.

    1. BU is targeting philanthropy events, not because they don’t believe in charity, not because they think that events that are strictly meant for students to have fun (like a Programming Council event) are more worthwhile than a philanthropy event, but because the majority of philanthropy events put on at BU are executed by Greek life. This is the administrations first step in shutting the Greek community off. They aren’t even being subtle about it. Name a single philanthropy event that has been funded by the AB that has not benefited the students the same way a concert, show or dance would. In fact, philanthropy events are usually one of the above.

  3. I think Battaglino’s justification that not all students want to give donations to various charities, but what about all the events on campus that are held by student groups that I don’t associate or potentially do not support? I believe all students should be able to create their own groups on campus, however Id rather money from my undergraduate student fee go towards a charity through a philanthropic event that all students can enjoy like Kap Slap, than go towards a specific event that is only geared towards certain students.

    Also where does all the money go once it is returned? If AB continuously recollects money, it seems they would end up either collecting an unnecessary amount of money or even just giving out money for events just because they can.

    Maybe BU should allocate more money from our undergraduate student fee towards AB, instead of building obviously inefficient and dysfunctional buildings like the dining hall in 100 Baystate #thinkaboutit

    1. clarification: I think Battaglino’s justification that not all students want to give donations to various charities is inaccurate; but what about all the events…

  4. A lesson in fiscal responsibility. I like it.

    It doesn’t make sense that my undergraduate fee goes towards something that is unprofitable. If a party costs 9k, but only makes 8k, I would say, forget the party and just give the 9k to charity. Isn’t it common sense?

    1. “It doesn’t make sense that my undergraduate fee goes towards something that is unprofitable. ”

      We are a nonprofit.

      ALSO:

      You clearly have no idea how much the administration wastes on shit that is profitable and helpful to no one.

    2. “A fun concert for the students and benefits a good cause, right?”

      why shouldnt our undergraduate fee go towards something like that? the Kap Slap example shows how fun and charitable events like that represent the best of both worlds.

  5. Yeah, Greg is spot on.The open dialogue’s a joke, but that aside, there’s got to be more accountability with event planning and this definitely goes there.

    If BU’s serious about increasing fiscal responsibility within these groups, though, they need to do 2 additional things:

    1) Put similar measures in place for Programming Council. Certainly they’re not meant to break even or even profit, but they should be held accountable based on results to make sure they spend their allocation valuably.

    2) Allow account balance rollovers to reward groups that are frugal and efficient with their spending. It also allows these groups to plan fiscal plans that extend beyond one year, allowing them to actually accomplish more due to a higher balance. It’ll also mean groups will be more willing to have SAO hold onto their balances, rather than using outside bank accounts, which I know BU has always disliked.

  6. It is ignorant to say that the new policy is to enhance planning, accountability, and philanthropic experiences. Do real-world charity and research organizations not constantly and persistently request for federal and state grants? That, to me, requires the same level and strategy of planning and philanthropic experience. In addition, the whole point of allocations board is to allocate. It is under their discretion to fully fund a request or not, and if the cause isn’t important enough, then yes, by all means student groups will practice finding other sources of money. That’s the whole point. We go to a reliable and understanding source first.

    It isn’t the responsibility for the AB to give money to charity, which then goes back to the whole meaning of “allocations.” Allocate money to the best ability and judgment. Maybe not all students want a portion of their tuition to go to charities. At the same time, I’m positive that a larger majority of the student population doesn’t want their tuition to go to Greek-life events and alcohol.

    If students truly cared about charity…; Why do cancer organizations request grants? Why do entrepreneurs request grants? Why do healthcare practitioners and politicians and teachers try to advocate for passings of legislation toward their profession? It’s not only to give back to the community (if that’s not reason enough..) but it’s also to raise awareness of the causes to the greater mass in the longrun.

  7. This makes sense. A loan system is far more profitable in the long run because it allows for BU to recycle the money used to organize an event. Now three different events can use $5000 throughout the year, and send their profits to the proposed charities. It’s allocating less money and doing more with it. Think about it this way: Why spend $5000 to donate $6000, when one can spend (theoretically) $0 and donate $1000. The donation is the labor of an organizations students – not the money given to them by BU.

    1. Nate Suri is right on point. And as an alum who worked with John Battaglino I can assure readers that his priority is doing what is good for BU students and the university. Truly a good move by John and the AB.

  8. We all know that BU will continue to charge students the same amount to fund the AB even though the current sum of money will just be recycled. I will most certainly not be donating back to this school as an alum if the administration continues to be this selfish.

  9. This makes me so sad. I love BU, I’m a tourguide so it’s my job to tell people I love BU, but then they institute things like this. You’re using our “Undergraduate Student Fees” to fund these event. Making us pay you back is absurd. We already paid you. We deserve to at least get part of it back. In the case of KAP Slap, you then expect us to pay you MORE money? On top of the $50,000 we already pay you every single year? It makes it really difficult to think you care about the student body when you nickel and dime us at every turn. While I’m all for budgeting responsibly (and I’ll even admit that maybe Kap Slap was a little lavish), what hurts the most is that the open dialogue is a joke. The admin comes to us for “town hall meetings” and other “discussions” when the decision has already been made. It doesn’t count as caring when you’re ignoring us.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *