Low funds may halt organization certification

Vassar Student Association (VSA) Vice President for Finance Marcelo Buitron '09 announced in the Nov. 2 VSA Council meeting that he would not be voting in favor of the certification of any more organizations in the near future due to financial constraints placed on the VSA. Though organizations can be certified without Buitron's approval, his concerns speak to the extent of the economic constraints facing the Council.

Two organizations had come to be certified that evening: the Vassar Prison Initiative and Ballroom Dance. While both were eventually certified by a Council vote, Buitron's opinions ignited a discussion that went beyond the individual organizations in question.

The College's endowment lost $80 million between June 30 and Sept. 30 this year. As the VSA's capital budget comes from its share of the endowment, members of Council are concerned about the future of the capital budgeting fund. "We might not have capital budgeting next year. I mean, that's unheard of," said President of the Class of 2009 Luis Hoyos.

Buitron recognized that even if a potential organization has generated interest and has every legitimate reason to exist, financial concerns are serious enough to keep him from supporting certifications.

Despite this dreary outlook, "I am confident that we're going to have the money," said Buitron. He is willing to consider changes in funding, which might mean a smaller Council discretionary fund and fewer special purpose funds.

Even so, he feels that an increase in the number of organizations on campus will further impact the VSA's budget, when it is already stretched thinly.

"We're over-requested by hundreds of thousands of dollars every year," said VSA Vice President for Student Life Nate Silver '10. "The fact that we come out with a balanced budget every year speaks volumes to the amount of work that goes into it."

In the Council meeting, the problem was likened to trying to cut more and more slices into a pie that simply is not growing and may, in fact, be shrinking due to the economic climate. Financial considerations aside, VSA Vice President for Activities Alexandria Dempsey '09 noted, "The campus is already over-programmed." Because of the number of organizations, it is difficult for clubs to reserve spaces for events and tables in the College Center. "We're not going to have 200 orgs. That's not realistic," she said. She acknowledged that it is possible that the College may only be able to support a certain number of organizations, regardless of the national economy, and that the College may be reaching that point. "I think at some point there's probably a maximum capacity," Dempsey said.

The students sitting on VSA Council had different opinions about potential solutions to both the financial constraints and the problem of organization crowding. Hoyos suggested a freeze of certifications as a temporary means of saving money. This suggestion was not altogether popular, but it drew attention to the severity of the problem.

A certification freeze would be a drastic statement, but Hoyos asserted that it would be fair because it would be impersonal, not targeting any specific organization.

Silver prefers to look at organizations on a case-by-case basis, because he does not want to disproportionately affect organizations that might not get certified before a freeze is instituted. "Blanket statements I don't think are the way to go about [organization] certifications," said Silver.

"I'm more in favor of just being frank with organizations," Silver continued. He suggested that certain organizations be certified with the understanding that   they would not likely receive much financial support.

A certification freeze by the VSA Council is not unprecedented. In November 2006, the VSA placed a temporary moratorium on organization recognitions to give itself time to consider a similar problem of overcrowding and financial limitations.

Funding is not the only benefit that comes with certification. VSA-certified organizations can also reserve space for events and table in the College Center. Silver suggested that a certification also amounts to a seal of approval from the VSA that gives organizations a presence on campus. "That has nothing to do with finances," he said. 

Some Council members advocated a two-tiered system of certification in which some organizations might have Council approval with the understanding that they were not eligible to apply for funding.

As different organizations require different amounts of VSA support, this would allow for a greater number of organizations, while concentrating fiscal resources where they are most needed. According to Dempsey, this issue has been discussed in the Activities Committee.

This idea was also instituted in the past. Until Spring 2006, organizations were recognized before being authorized, at which point they were eligible for funding. The period of recognition allowed a student organization to be active on campus and show its merits before receiving financial support from the VSA.

Dempsey was hesitant about reinstituting this practice or putting in place a similar system, saying, "I don't think it's realistic."

"The old system was laborious and tedious—orgs had to go through a long process to become ‘approved' or ‘recognized,' and it was often hard to remove them without long-term inactivity," explained VSA President Jimmy Kelly '09 in an e-mailed statement.

"The certification system makes it easy for orgs to become part of the VSA system quickly and to be removed just as quickly in the event that they demonstrate inactivity," he continued.

Town Houses President Lorrette Fisher '09 said during the meeting, "We are a little bit too lenient," in reference to the Council's current treatment of existing organizations. I think an organization freeze should be a last resort," Fisher wrote in an e-mailed statement.

Fisher was more in favor of close inspection of both existing organizations and new ones applying for VSA certification.

In fact, all of the organizations on campus have turned in either an organization review or an organization report this fall.

"Hopefully we'll have a round of de-certifications," said Silver.
Each semester, half of the organizations turn in a review, which includes every single club document, and half turn in a report, which goes into less depth.

In the course of a year, each organization will turn in one review and one report. The latest set of reviews and reports was due on Oct. 27.

The Activities Committee will look for any red flags in these documents that would suggest that an organization is not fulfilling its goals or the purpose of its mission statement. "It's also a time for them to sort of reflect," said Dempsey.

Dempsey recommends that students try to work with existing organizations to create activities to suit their specific interests rather than forming new organizations.  

Until the discussion sparked by Buitron's statement, certifications have garnered nearly unanimous support from Council overall.

While no specific bylaw changes or solutions have been formally proposed, it is unlikely that certification support will be so broad in the near future.