ASG budget approved by board of trustees
The Saddleback College Associated Student Government budget was passed by a unanimous vote from the board of trustees on Tuesday night. This marks the second trip to the board for the ASG, returning after trimming the budget down to $802,600 from $968,000.
The board rejected ASG’s initial budget at the November meeting after several trustees expressed concerns over the amount of money allocated to the scholarship ceremony versus the dollars allocated to the scholarships themselves. Trustees Wagner and Fuentes also raised concerns over the ambiguity of certain categories, such as experiential education. The board voted 4-3 in favoring the tabling of the item, pending further revisions.
“We made substantial but reasonable cuts to allocations,” said ASG treasurer, Travis Fuller, at Tuesday’s meeting. “While we were comfortable making these cuts, some were extremely difficult to make,” Fuller said.
Programs such as instrumental music got cut from $43,430 to $14,000, which translates to 67 percent. While this is significant, Fuller said that they had the full cooperation of the Saddleback faculty and staff.
Several students spoke prior to the discussions, expressing their support for the budget. “Without the support from the ASG,” Shawna McFadden, a member of the Wind and Jazz Ensemble, said during her address to the board, “we would not be able to continue the programs.”
The Chancellor recommended the approval of the budget in a memo sent to trustees on Jan. 20. “I sat down with members of the ASG community to address the concerns that have been presented by the board,” said Chancellor Mathur. Clearly Mathur’s approval was echoed by the board The ASG was also optimistic at the start of the meeting that the budget would pass.