Voting for the University of Connecticut Undergraduate Student Government Elections opened on March 3 and close today at noon. Here are the profiles for the two people running for comptroller for USG.
William “Billy” Lipinski
William “Billy” Lipinski, a sixth-semester political science and public administration student, is the current comptroller and seeking reelection for a second year. The year before, he was the inventory director under the previous comptroller.
Working with his inventory specialist last year, Lipinski “completely transformed the inventory reporting system … and streamlined the audit system for RSOs (Registered Student Organizations),” Lipinski wrote in an email.
As comptroller this year, Lipinski says he is proud of the work his team has done funding Tier-II organizations with a reduced budget.
“We’re working with a $133k budget cut for Tier II funding, and we’re lasting just as long as last year, which signals a shift in policy application and implementation,” Lipinski said.
Lipinski says he has “improved our fiscal transparency and advocacy.” He cites the club sports funding town hall he and his team hosted earlier this semester and the weekly emails sent to RSO’s regarding the status of the funding system as evidence.
If reelected, Lipinski hopes to make USG’s two budgets — the programmatic and operating budget — more flexible so that committees can hit the ground running.
“Next year, knowing now what I know, I want to try to make our budget more flexible so that we have to make less amendments and can promote more flexible programming,” said Lipinski.
Lipinski and his team have made several changes to keep finances transparent in USG this year. From conducting a mid-year budget review, updating the Tier-II funding website and conducting in-person funding training with select RSO’s at their weekly meetings.
Next year, Lipinski hopes to overhaul the Tier-II funding training, film videos for funding updates and expand the in-person training.
One of Lipinski’s favorite parts of working as comptroller has been meeting with committee directors and RSO’s to deliver their event ideas.
“Working with the committee directors is one of the biggest parts of my job in USG … we’re constantly making changes to our budgeting to ensure that we can deliver on the ideas of our senators,” Lipinski said. “I love meeting with RSOs. I’ve met with so many groups to discuss event ideas and how USG can support them. That’s a culture I want to make sure extends into next year.”
As for USG’s interactions with Tier-II organizations, Lipinski is looking to streamline the funding process and be a representative for them to the UConn administration.
“What RSO leaders sometimes don’t know right off the bat is that USG is also at the mercy of our advisors and the university’s purchasing policies,” Lipinski said. “[We want to] advocate on behalf of RSOs and be the liaison for them at the admin purchasing level so that they can get what they need.”
When asked why he’s running for a second term, Lipinski said “I feel as though I’m best prepared to execute. You can ask anyone in USG: this year, fiscally, has been one of the best years for USG. And while I didn’t do it alone, I ask you to give me one more year of leadership so that I can continue fighting on behalf of you, the UConn undergraduate student body.”
Andrea Perez-Meneses
Andrea Perez-Meneses, a fifth-semester economics major, currently serves as a multicultural and diversity senator and engagement coordinator, working to keep other senators accountable and honest.
One of Perez-Meneses’ goals is to make USG finances more transparent by potentially implementing a live portal for students to see where their money is going or holding office hours for RSOs to come meet with funding staff and ask questions.
“There are different times throughout different days that these orgs can come down to the USG office and talk to us … it’s not fair if you need advice and you have no one to go to. I feel like that defeats the whole purpose of our work. We should be there to help you; we should be there to work with you,” Perez-Meneses said.
Perez-Meneses believes that clearer funding checklists and access to financial resources could go a long way to improve the funding process for Tier-II organizations.
“These clearer checklists would improve how they get their money and help them understand what steps exactly they need to take in order to receive this funding,” Perez-Meneses said. “I know we already have some, but I feel like they’re not as clear as we would like for them to be,” Perez-Meneses said.
Perez-Meneses also thinks that now is the time to bring in new leadership into USG to provide new perspectives on the current systems and policies.
“It’s good to bring in fresh perspectives. It’s the job of new leadership to evaluate all these current systems with the intention of improving them.” Perez-Meneses said. “I feel like a fresh perspective would be a big benefit to the overall structure of USG. We’re getting new presidents, a lot of our upperclassmen are leaving, this is also a perfect opportunity to make a transition.”