Public budget hearings for the University of Connecticut will be held on Nov. 14 and Nov. 19 between 3:15 p.m. and 6 p.m., where the General University and Student Health fees will be discussed. The hearings will be held at the Student Recreation Center in Husky Suite A.
A schedule of the public hearings can be found on the Student Activity and Service Fee Advisory Committee (SASFAC) website. Organizations that are funded by the General University Fee or Student Health Fee are assigned a 30-minute block during one of the hearings. The first 15 minutes will be spent “doing an overview of [each organization’s] packet and highlighting their programs and services and their budget,” according to David Clokey, the assistant vice president for administrative services, and the last 15 minutes will be for the SASFAC to ask questions to each organization.
The organizations that will be involved in the hearing are the Student Union, Student Health and Wellness, Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, One Card Office, Student Activities, UConn Recreation and UConn Marching Band. A link to each organization’s budget packet can be found on the public hearings schedule.
The last half hour of each hearing will be used as an opportunity for public comment.
Clokey and Stephanie Reitz, UConn’s spokesperson, talked about the budget hearings in an email with the Daily Campus. They discussed what students can expect to hear at the budget hearings.
“The units funded by [General University Fee] and the [Student Health fee] project their budgets for the next two years and the committee will review them and clarify the information being presented during the hearing,” Clokey said. “As the committee is advisory to senior administration, we offer recommendations about the allocation from the fees necessary to support those departments current programs and services.”
“The public hearings on Nov. 14 and 19 provide additional opportunities for students to examine the individual elements of the fees more closely, ask questions, and share their thoughts,” Reitz said.
Clokey added that the committee would “certainly encourage students to attend.”
These hearings will follow two town hall meetings that will be occurring on Nov. 13 at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., which will discuss the fee rates that students pay.
SASFAC will hold additional hearings in February that will focus on Tier III Student Organizations at all UConn campuses.
SASFAC is charged with “providing recommendations and advice regarding a fee structure that supports excellence with procedures that are comprehensive and uniform without sacrificing efficiency and flexibility,” according to their website. For more information, visit the SASFAC website or email david.clokey@uconn.edu.
Correction: This article was updated on Nov. 13 to correct a time error.