Congress Gives Back Administrator Vote

The Student Fee Audit Committee supervises the Student Activities Fund Office and makes decisions about the distribution of student fees, said Natalie Russell, chairwoman of the Finance Committee.

Russell said that for years, the director of the Student Union and a representative from the Office of Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs sat on SFAC.

But Speaker of Congress Tony Larson said Patrick Frye, student body treasurer in 2000-01, rewrote Title V of the Student Code to remove administrative representatives from SFAC.

"(Frye) felt that the committee should be controlled by students," Larson said.

He said the manner in which representatives were informed that their vote was being removed led to some resentment from Sue Kitchen, vice chancellor for student affairs. "She made it clear to (student leaders) that she wouldn't come if she wasn't wanted," Larson said.

He said these hard feelings were counterproductive to SFAC's goals.

"Not making administrators feel welcome is never a good thing to go about getting anything done," Larson said.

Tuesday's bill, introduced by Student Body Treasurer Michael Vollmer, amended Title V to change the composition of SFAC to include the director of the Student Union and a representative from Kitchen's office as voting members. It was passed unanimously.

The director of the Student Union is Don Luse.

Larson said the student voice will remain dominant on the committee because there are eight to 10 student representatives and only two voting administrators.

The bill stated that the student body would benefit from increased administrative participation with SFAC.

"The idea is just that students aren't at the University for numerous years and don't have the context (that administrators do)," Larson said.

He said the director of the Student Activity Fund Office, Deborah Horne, will maintain her role as a nonvoting member of SFAC, while the two other administrative representatives will have voting rights in all matters except student fee increases. The director of the Student Activity Fund Office has maintained a nonvoting position on the committee for 14 years, Horne said.

Larson said the matters on which the new representatives will have voting rights include SAFO oversight and freezing funds of groups with SAFO accounts. He pointed to SFAC's recent recommendation for the Student Safety and Security Committee to examine whether the Safe Escort program is the most efficient use of the student safety fee as an example of SFAC's responsibilities.

Russell said input from administrators on such matters has been important in the past and will receive weight once again now that Title V has been amended.

"Basically (the bill is) making the committee more like it always has been."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.