Marquette Student Government announced its reserve fund is $170,000 and welcomed 10 new residence hall senators during its senate meeting this week.
Reserve fund
MUSG stated they are over-budget by $20,000 for 2015 and will use the reserve fund to compensate. MUSG Vice President Aliya Manjee said the fund’s purpose is for situations like overspending.
MUSG Financial Vice President Ted Eberle said the $170,000 is a healthy medium between the fund’s $50,000 minimum and $230,000 maximum. MUSG expects to receive $435,800 in student fee revenue this year and it doesn’t plan to exceed that amount in its 2016 budget.
MUSG planned for a budget of $475,850 last year, expecting to receive Senior Week funds as a source of revenue, which didn’t happen. Without the Senior Week funds, Student Organization Funding allocated more money than was available.
This year, SOF is beginning spot funding. The budget reserves $20,000 for spot funding and divides it equally between club and non-club sports throughout the year.
The bulk funding can give up to $51,890 for club sports and $72,460 for non-club sports.
The reserve fund is only used in cases of overallocation for bulk funding or unforeseen expenditures.
“We have a reserve fund which is basically in existence for new initiatives … or (when) we go over budget,” Eberle said.
New senators
The residence halls have new faces to represent their communities. Among the group is Mohamed Abdelrahim, junior in the College of Health Sciences, as representative for commuter students.
Both McCormick Hall representatives, Meredith Gillespie, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Phil Parisi, a freshman in the College of Engineering, said they are excited to begin.
“I love getting involved on campus, serving others and making sure they have a voice,” Gillespie said. “I hope to make a positive difference at Marquette.”
Parisi decided to be a senator instead of a floor representative. After his first meeting, he said he was glad he made that decision.
“MUSG provides in figuring out and seeing what we can do (as students),” he said.
Representing O’ Donnell Hall is Blake Hartman, a freshman in the College of Business Administration. He said he wants to be part of the “continuous improvements of the image of Marquette” during his time with MUSG.
Three of the six senators to represent off-campus housing are Courtney Guc, a junior in the College of Business Administration; Clayton Keefe, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences; and Michaela Bear, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences. They were all re-elected.
Cristina Zecena-Hernandez, a junior in the College of Business Administration, was assigned to fill one of the three open seats for off-campus housing. As an Evans Scholar, she said she wants to be the voice for her housemates who were unrepresented in MUSG until last year.
“It will definitely be that experience that makes me step out of my comfort zone, and I really enjoy doing that,” Zecena-Hernandez said.
The other new senators are:
- Allie Bitz, freshman, College of Arts & Sciences, Abbottsford Hall
- Erica Jackson, freshman, College of Arts & Sciences, Cobeen Hall
- John Eckert, sophomore, College of Arts & Sciences, Humphrey Hall
- Michelle Diaz, sophomore, College of Arts & Sciences, Schroeder Hall
- J. Gabriel Lopez Rivera, sophomore, College of Arts & Sciences, Schroeder Hall
- Luis Herrera, sophomore, College of Business Administration, Straz Tower
