Treasurer

Welcome to the Treasurer’s Homepage

What do I do? The SGA Treasurer is responsible for the financial management of the entire SGA. This includes disbursing and overseeing club budgets, discretionary funds, and other entities. He/She chairs the Venture Fund Committee, Treasurer’s Advisory Council, Senate Finance Committee, is an advisory member of the Senate Fund Committee, and is a member of the SGA Executive Board.

Where does the money for SGA come from and how much money is there? In total, the SGA is worth a little over $500,000, but this is distributed between all clubs, organizations, halls, etc. and includes a substantially large “Holding Account,” which acts - inter alia - as an emergency fund for student activities. The official operating budget of the SGA (which does not include the Holding Account, Venture Fund, and surpluses) is slightly above $400,000, and can be found here.

The official operating budget is gathered entirely from the Student Activities Fee. Set by the Board of Trustees, the Student Activities Fee was $285 per student for the 2009-2010 academic year. The Venture Fund is funded by the Laundry Fee and revenue from campus vending machines, and the Holding Account consists mostly of money leftover from and fundraised in previous years.

How is the SGA financial bureaucracy organized? Most decisions about how and where SGA money is spent are made by Senate committees, but some are made by the Executive Board, and the Venture Fund is disbursed by its own, non-Senate committee.

The Finance Committee decides on how much funding to provide to each tier, and then how much money to provide to each club for annual operating budgets. The Finance Committee also adjudicates audits. The Senate Fund Committee recommends to the Senate how to disburse its Senate Fund. The Venture Fund Committee, which consists of three Senators and the Assistant Director of Student Life, disburses the Venture Fund. The Speaker and Early Event Funds are disbursed by the Executive Board.

The Treasurer’s Advisory Council is a non-Senate, SGA-affiliated organization that oversees SGA financial policy planning by making recommendations to the SGA Treasurer or to the Senate. The TAC may also audit Class Councils.

What are my priorities for the year? I have set my priorities for the year in consultation with the Treasurer’s Advisory Council. In general, we seek to promote fiscal responsibility, encourage fundraising, evaluate and if necessary reform the club tier system, efficiently and fairly allocate SGA resources, ensure that events are adequately advertised, and improve communication between the SGA and the Wheaton community on financial matters.

Check here often for updates!
-Sasha Kim, SGA Treasurer