A grab-and-go refrigerator at Henry’s, new suicide prevention skills training, and increased projects funding for certain service centres are some of what the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) is planning for the year, as outlined in its 2013-14 operating budget. The budget passed at a CUSA council meeting July 25.
CUSA will operate on a revenue of approximately $2.4 million, budgeting about $860,000 to be generated through student fees.
Here are some of the budget highlights.
Student Issues: A new $6,000 funding line dedicated to Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) was added to the vice-president (student issues) portfolio, managed by Gina Parker.
It aims to show trainees how to detect students showing signs of distress and where to direct these students to help them cope, Parker said via email.
The two-day training happening in October will cost about $160 per attendee. The trainees will be CUSA service centre co-ordinators and CUSA and RRRA executives, Parker said.
The Aboriginal Service Centre: The centre received a new funding line of $2,000 for Aboriginal Awareness Month.
The usual week-long event was extended to a month last year, Aboriginal Centre programming co-ordinator Pitseolak Pfeifer said via email.
However, having no dedicated funding in last year’s budget, Pfeifer said the centre allocated much of its programming money toward the awareness month.
“Aboriginal students wanted to span the events over a whole month akin to Black History Month,” Pfeifer said. “The Aboriginal students felt that it is time that Aboriginal contributions be given equal status.”
Clubs & Societies: CUSA clubs and societies received a new funding line of $5,000 to hold the clubs gala, an end-of-year appreciation dinner for the clubs and societies executives and volunteers.
The cost mainly goes towards renting a space on campus and setting up a buffet, clubs commissioner Brandon Wallingford said.
At the gala, different clubs will get to know each other and share ideas to make improvements for the future, he said.
The inaugural gala last year was paid for with the projects fund, Wallingford said.
“We gave it a dedicated line so that students would be able to see exactly how much was being spent on each major item,” Wallingford said.
Elections: The rescheduling of last year’s 2012-13 referendum caused the event to go over the budget by about $15,000, CUSA vice-president (finance) Folarin Odunayo said. The costs included paying poll clerks and purchasing ballots, he said.
Henry’s: The Unicentre convenience store is getting a $6,000 grab-and-go refrigerator.
It is “designed to keep it’s contents cool and fresh. It does not have a front door,” Odunayo said.
Henry’s expects to sell about $40,000 less in bus tickets this year than last due to the introduction of the Presto Pass, Odunayo said.
“CUSA makes a small amount of money from the sale of OC Transpo bus tickets,” he said, but does not buy them at a discounted rate.
Food Centre: The Food Centre received a new $2,000 emergency food budget line this year.
“The fund allows for our food centre co-ordinators to go to the grocery store and pick up a few of the items that they were missing,” CUSA vice-president (student services) Reda Zarrug said via email.
The centre depends on donations, so it doesn’t always have the necessary items, Zarrug said.
The dedicated funding line will also make it easier to track the purchases, he said.
Foot Patrol: Carleton’s Foot Patrol had its volunteer training and staff appreciation funding increased from $500 to $1,000 this year.
A large chunk—$739—will be spent on a one-day seminar that will teach volunteers how to intervene in confrontations without causing physical harm, Craig Handy, Foot Patrol’s administrative co-ordinator, said via email.
“Currently Foot Patrol volunteers are not allowed to physically intervene in a confrontation that could occur on or off campus. They are strictly an observe and report unit that provide[s] deterrents for crime or harassment,” Handy said.
The remaining money will provide volunteers with hot chocolate, tea, coffee, and water, Handy said.
“We figure that smaller but consistent appreciation is better than one large event,” he said.
Foot Patrol increased this funding by allocating money from elsewhere in their budget, Handy said.
