Correction on Sept. 4, 2024: A previous version of this article reported that the SBA Executive spent $400,000 in the 2023–2024 academic year and that $300,000 was spent on the 2024 Barrister’s Ball. Calculations were made based on verbal statements by Executive officials at the Aug. 27 Senate meeting.

The 2023–2024 Final Finance Report released on Sept. 3 now confirms that approximately $333,000 was spent by the 2023–2024 Executive. The 2023–2024 Executive’s budget was $309,000 ($70,000 from the 2023–2024 budget allocation process, $173,000 from the closing balance of the 2022–2023 academic year, and $66,000 from revenue collected from the 2022–2023 academic year). 

No information was provided for spending related to the 2024 Barrister’s Ball. All other numbers have been verified as accurate.

$90,000 missing. $446,000 spent. Funding SBA and not student organizations. Why?

The Student Bar Association (SBA) Senate saw high turnout this past Tuesday, Aug. 27, as it held its first meeting of the semester. Ordinarily, student organizations would have been allocated funds by the Senate to operate for the year. Instead, due to confusion and uncertainty regarding the finances of the SBA and an outcry from the student body in reaction to the proposed massive student organization budget cuts, the Senate postponed any decision on allocating funds until a special meeting on Sept. 3, at 8:50 p.m. in the LLC Moot Court Room. While student organizations were permitted to provide statements to the Senate appealing these cuts, many were only provided the reasons for their particular budget reductions in the middle of the meeting, moments before appeals to funding decisions began.

What happened with the budget

Information about the budget requests and proposed cuts are included in the Senate Finance Committee’s Budget Allocation Workspace. In total, organizations requested roughly $225,000. The Finance Committee then used a series of calculations to recommend an allocation of only $65,000 to the student organizations. This is in sharp contrast to the proposed $120,000 going to the SBA Executive branch — which, for example, hosts Weekend Windup, Lawlloween, and Barrister’s Ball. Many students expressed a desire to reduce the Executive’s budget if it means student organizations can receive more funding.

Here’s how the Senate Finance Committee slashed budget requests. First, the Committee stripped out certain line items from all requests, such as graduation cords and networking events, bringing the total to $133,000. Second, each organization’s request was reduced based on how close its spending was to its budget allocation in the previous year on its “C Fund” account. In other words, if an organization only spent 95 percent of the funds SBA allocated to them last year, their request was reduced by 5 percent. This brought the total to $118,000. Third, requests were reduced by the actual amount of money in “R Fund” accounts — or rollover accounts — which hold money fundraised rather than allocated by the SBA. Finally, all budgets were reduced by 27 percent to achieve a target amount of $65,000 — reduced enough to give the Executive nearly double that amount.

Requesting organizations who are either good fundraisers or require a diversity of funding to operate were penalized by the R Fund reduction step in this calculation. Any organization that requested less than the amount they had fundraised was recommended a $0 allocation. Some of these organizations include Government Contracts Student Association (GCSA), Tech Law Student Association (TLSA), Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF), and the Equal Justice Foundation.

The problem and how we got here

The confusion and reactive events on Tuesday were nothing new. They reflect the same history of opaque financial practices and lack of accountability that the SBA has been operating under for years. The Executive branch of the SBA receives an immense amount of money and nearly no oversight. This has led to an unaccountable, historically mismanaged group that continually mismanages funds.

One part of the problem is that nobody knows where our money has gone. Each student pays fees of three dollars per credit hour (roughly 50 dollars per semester) specifically into a fund to support our extracurricular activities. Over $300,000 was spent by the Executive last year; however, it is presently undisclosed how much of that was for any particular use. That’s also roughly $263,000 beyond what the Executive was allocated by the Senate. Further, over at least the past two years, $90,000 in the SBA PayPal account has vanished and been unaccounted for. The students deserve to know the state of that $90,000, how the Executive’s finance team intends to get it back, and where that money will go once they cash the check.

Where do we go from here

The continual mismanagement of funds by prior SBA Presidents and other officers over the previous two years necessitates immediate intervention. Financially, the SBA is a disaster. Those responsible for planning programs within the Executive Branch have done so with no regard for how much money they spend. Without demanding transparency, we cannot believe that the Executive will hold itself accountable now or in the future.

The Senate should introduce amendments to the bylaws that ensure financial transparency and accountability of the Executive Branch. First, the Executive should have to submit line-item budget requests to the Senate Finance Committee for approval, just like any other organization, but with more particularity than just “$300,000 for the Executive.” Second, the Executive should have to immediately report any overspending beyond what the Senate has allocated to the entire student body with an explanation. Third, the powers of the Senate to audit the Executive should be increased and be exercised at least once a month.

Beyond amending the bylaws, the University Finance Office needs to — in addition to getting reimbursements out sooner than months after requesting them — allow students to view our own finances. At the very least, the Vice President of Finance and Senate Finance Committee Chair should be permitted to validate that certain transactions have been made by looking at the records. Without this power, we are left guessing how much money we actually have or how much has rolled over from year to year, which is no way to operate.

Portions of this article recite or adapt Connor J. Toth’s community comment at the August 27, 2024 Student Bar Association Senate meeting.