Student Fee Allocation Process

The weather outside may have frozen over, but in SRC, things are just starting to heat up.

What is making things really hot right now though are the heated debates about the Student Fee Allocation Process, known not-so-lovingly as SFAP to anyone who has sat through these meetings.

SFAP distributes student fees to other organizations such as, but not limited to, the University Programming Council, the cultural centers, the Women’s Resource Center, the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Allies program, the Center for International Education, and themselves.

Last night the council decided to cap their discussion to only an hour-long discussion, which was later extended by 10 minutes. The next two meetings, however, will probably go uncapped so they can critically discuss each aspect of the proposed budgets. The reason they limited the time on this meeting was because it was the first viewing of the budget. Previous SFAP meetings have taken up to five hours before.

Only four programs did not receive their requested amount, and two of them received more, which was one of the questions raised.

"Why don't we give the groups what they ask for, and what is left, put that toward meeting the other requests," said Jay Dinges, the Professional Administrative Staff Council representative.

Student-at-large Spencer Worley introduced the most heated discussion. He proposed that SRC zero fund themselves for next year in order to allow next year’s council to focus solely on the revision of the bylaws.

Primary reactions dubbed the proposition as ludicrous and Worley as nuts. SRC did debate the issue, and although they recognized that it was a well-thought out proposition, and despite Worley’s feelings that the long-term effects would outweigh the short term, SRC did not agree with him.

“By not funding SRC, you would disenfranchise the students,” Student Trustee Bob Vincent said.

From their budget, SRC funds several programs like the Center for Peer Education and off-campus housing. Most significantly, a few of the vice presidents would not be able to fulfill aspects of their positions. For example, the budget for the vice president for student organizations funds all the clubs and organizations on campus. Or, some of the vice president for student affair’s budget goes to funding conference grants so students can travel to other places to gain experience and ideas.

"Our job is to make sure this campus is the best for our students," said Cameron Cowan, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences representative.

The next meeting will be 5:30 p.m. April 1 in the conference room of the University Center. Students are welcome to attend.

All about the SRC President

Charles Miles is the president of Student Representative Council at UNC. After so much controversy from last year's election, I wanted to know more about him, and what he is doing to help voice UNC students' concerns.

Figuring out the direction I wanted to take was the easiest part of writing this story. I knew I wanted to show how he represented the students on a daily basis. After that was decided, the hardest part was finding time to meet with Miles. As SRC president, he has several commitments to keep. After finally getting to talk with him for about 15 minutes, I had most of the information I needed to write the story. 

From my research, I learned that it is difficult for students to complete the grade appeals process without losing financial aid. From writing and rewriting, I learned the importance of proofreading, but I know I can still work on becoming a better editor of my work. I also learned I need to ask more follow up questions while I'm interviewing. 

After all was said and done, I feel that what I did well was covering sides most people wouldn't think to follow up on, such as interviewing Barrett Rothe, Miles's opponent in the election. I think that adding this side gave the story a concluding feel to the level of competitiveness from the election by showing how Rothe reacts to Miles's presidency.