Upon entering the position of the Student Association comptroller, Jeff Rickert had hopes of allocating large amounts of money to student organizations smoothly and ensuring that the best programs received the most money. Now, with his second term coming to an end, Rickert said he has done just that.

‘He’s been a great comptroller,’ said Amy Snider, SA chief of staff. ‘The position is perhaps the most demanding in the entire organization, and he has handled it extremely well for two years.’

Rickert said his greatest accomplishment was the creation of an enhanced financial vision for SA that passed in January. SA provides student organizations with guidelines of what to expect from funding processes held each semester, allowing the organizations to better prepare.

‘It’s the first step of a long process, but it’s a step we’ve never taken before,’ said Rickert. ‘So that’s our biggest win.’

Rickert wrote the financial vision himself because he thought the old vision was too vague. He wrote down specific processes outside SA’s supplement code for groups to see the Finance Board’s thought process regarding the budget written down on paper, he said.

The vision is composed of a four-tier system to allocate student organization funding, which is dependent on the organization’s experience. This would prevent organizations from requesting large amounts of money for funding to host events with minimal attendance, Rickert said.

‘We weren’t going to give an organization that’s never done an event before $20,000. They have to prove that they can handle that money,’ he said.

New organizations with little or no experience are categorized in the first tier and can receive up to $5,000 for their budget. Organizations in the second tier can receive up to $12,000, and with greater success, they can move into the third tier and receive up to $25,000, Rickert said.

Once a group can consistently conduct successful programming, it enters the fourth tier and is eligible to receive more than $25,000. University Union sits at the top of the tier system because it hosts the Block Party and Juice Jam concerts, which consistently see large student turnout.

The tiers, however, are not definite. Organizations can move back down if they fail to meet their standards or handle the money properly. This would prevent money from being wasted.

‘Jeff’s efforts to develop a fair, easily understandable system of student fee allocation have been noble,’ Snider said.

As comptroller, Rickert also overcame the challenge of being faced with a financial surplus this summer. When student organizations receive revenue from hosting events, the money goes into a miscellaneous account, which can be spent with the approval of the comptroller. If the money is not spent by the end of the year, it rolls back into SA’s general account, he said.

This year, Rickert and SA President Neal Casey were notified of a clerical error that resulted in SA accumulating more than a $1 million in excess rollover funds. A plan was devised in which part of the money would be allocated to UU for the use of large-scale concerts, allowing it to send out more surveys to connect more with students, Rickert said.

‘We also decided to keep a significant portion to spread out over 10 semesters for any group and found common ground where we can benefit a lot of students,’ said Rickert. ‘I think the plan’s got great potential.’

Rickert said he knows the new comptroller, Stephen DeSalvo, will do an excellent job continuing what he started. DeSalvo began increasing SA’s transparency through the Your Student Fee website, where SA breaks down its finances.

Although Rickert will be out of office, he said he will be around if DeSalvo has any questions or concerns. Rickert said he is grateful for the friendships he has made and the opportunity to work with different groups.

‘It’s been great. Some people don’t always like the decisions I make, but I can say I’ve always done work by codes and fair decisions — it’s what I like to do,’ he said. ‘When you deal with a lot of money, you can’t deviate how you work with different groups. You have to hold a standard and treat everyone fairly. I’ve learned a lot from that.’

meltagou@syr.edu

Published on November 29, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri