On Feb. 15, the Pan Student Government Association unanimously passed resolutions, presented by the undergraduate SGA and the student bar association presidents, to create a procurement card system for student organizations and a student services fee audit and advisory board.
If approved by the Office of Student Activities and the vice president of Student Affairs, the procurement card system would create a system where student organizations use a debit card to make purchases for activities and events.
A.K. Bennett, president of the undergraduate SGA, said student organization members have asked for a change from the current system, in which student organizations must file paperwork and, sometimes, spend personal funds on their organization’s activities and then be reimbursed by the university.
“While university administration has not warmed to the idea of procurement cards, this is a recurring request from student organizations, and we will continue to advocate for it. We are using a 20th Century payment system in 2012, and its hindering student life,” he said.
The procurement card resolution cited examples of procurement card systems at institutions at Duke, University of Miami and Boston College, and called for the establishment of a pilot program.
The resolution in support of a student services fee audit and advisory board calls for the creation of a board of students, faculty and student affairs administrators, who will audit the student services fee and provide recommendations to university administrators on the allocation of the portion of the student services fee that PanSGA does not allocate.
In the current system, students do not have a direct impact on the allocation of the collective student services fee. There is also no annual audit on the allocation of the fee, nor any report published for the NSU community.
The resolution proposes that the advisory board will be made up of a student-majority. Additionally, the board must have undergraduate and graduate representatives from at least 50 percent of NSU’s schools and colleges, but will not consist of PanSGA members.
Bennett said a proposal for the structure of the board will be presented at the March PanSGA meeting.
“The student services fee is a student fee, and that student input is essential in determining how that fee is divided. I believe that this board, as proposed, will provide awareness and influence regarding the allocation of the student services fee in future years,” said Bennett.
Approval for the board must come from the university’s board of trustees.
Brad Williams, vice president of Student Affairs, said PanSGA’s efforts this year have benefited the student body.
“I am proud of and appreciate the professionalism that student leaders within PanSGA are representing the needs and concerns of students at all programs at NSU. This is the most active PanSGA has been in our university’s history, and because of it, the student voice has been strong,” said Williams.
