IUSA passes operating budget for 2011-2012

At the first Congress meeting of the Big Ten administration, members voted to approve a $91,400 operating budget for the 2011-2012 administrative year.

The bulk of IU Student Association funds, $47,000, will go toward IUSA initiatives working toward implementing the BSMART platforms. The push for Student Recreational Sports Center sustainability and an app for campus mapping will each receive $10,000. The statewide initiatives, medical amnesty and tax-free textbooks will receive $5,000 total. The previous administration’s bus tracker system will be allocated $8,000 for yearly maintenance. The last item on the budget, $10,000 for “new initiatives,” will be used for projects that may crop up throughout the year and can be used by either the executive or legislative branch.

Operational expenses fall second in this year’s budget, totaling just under $35,000, about 38 percent of the total budget. The biggest area receiving funding is “Advising & Support” at $8,000 while $6,000 has been allocated to travel, which the administration will use in lobbying efforts for the medical amnesty and tax-free textbooks platforms.

As promised during the campaign, the Big Ten executives will not be accepting salaries. Funding Board co-directors have been allocated $1,500. However, their contracts were negotiated before the Kingsolver administration assumed office.

Less than 10 percent of the total budget, $8,000, will go toward IUSA departments, including the IUSA Funding Board, Congress and Supreme Court. Hoosier Youth Advocacy, a nonpartisan research organization, will be given $5,000 for their efforts in following and aiding the progress of IUSA’s statewide initiatives.