The Board of Cooperative Activities (Co-Op) approved a committee to work with AVI on the 2014-2015 vending commission as a base for the stipend commission.
Last year, the stipend budget was made up of the vending contract guarantee, along with an additional $10,000 allocation and a $20,400 allocation and was based on the prior year’s stipend budget. Student activity fees cannot be used to fund the stipends.
SGA also had to allocate an additional $1,500 from the scholarship fund last year after a mix up with the University Program Board’s additional position. A freeze was also placed on stipends last year.
“These stipends are important,” SRSGA, Inc. Business Manager Wendy Leitera said
Stipends are funded primarily from vending sales. However, so far this year vending sales are down 24 percent.
“Based on vending sales, I can say with confidence that AVI will probably not renew last year’s vending guarantee,” Leitera said. “Our current stipend allocation really needs to be studied further in depth.”
Leitera recommended that more revenue sources be examined and that this be addressed now. “This is a more long range plan that I think we need to put into effect with this current senate,” she said.
The groups receiving stipends include the Student Government Association, the University Program Board, WSRU, and The Rocket.
The Happy Bus Committee recommended that evening Happy Bus schedule remains terminated next semester, but to keep the committee next semester to continue to examine ridership and possible interest in the evening route. Co-Op also approved the minutes from Nov. 21 meeting.
