The UC Santa Barbara Associated Students Senate passed a bill codifying the documentation of all Associated Students funds dispersed to campus organizations. 

The new financial structure will be implemented next year, and the F&B Committee will hold several information sessions on the processes. Emmett Ruhland / Daily Nexus

The Senate passed the Financial Transparency and Accounting Act on May 3, requiring any entities receiving Associated Students (A.S.) funds to provide monthly line-item reports on fiscal spending to the Finance and Business (F&B) Committee’s chief financial officer.

In an email to A.S., Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jasmin Hirth said the new structure will be implemented next year, and the F&B Committee will hold several information sessions on the processes.

“Familiarization of expenditures will create a culture of financial awareness within each entity, which will help each entity present during budget hearings,” Hirth’s email read. “In addition, the Finance and Business Committee will be able to make more informed decisions.”`

First-year computer science major, first pro-tempore and Off-Campus Senator Ephraim Shalunov authored the bill and said A.S.’s current system of financial management does not have a uniform process to account for where funding goes after dispersal.

“We have pretty bad organizational oversight over what sort of spending we’re actually seeing,” Shalunov said. “We can see a breakdown of what sorts of organizations we give our money to, but then at that level, the reporting stops being consistent. It’s not easy to answer questions like, ‘What percent of A.S. funds are used on salaries versus food versus event space,’ things like that.”

The bill stipulates that “any and all entities and persons that receive student fees—in the form of salaries, reimbursements, disbursements, or otherwise” must report the usage of any A.S. funds monthly to the CFO.

According to Shalunov, this process primarily applies to entities that regularly receive money from A.S., such as Boards, Commissions and Units. Registered campus organizations and individuals who receive one-time disbursements from A.S. would not have to report each month past the one-time usage.

All financial reports will then be compiled into a “master budget spreadsheet,” according to the bill’s language, and be publicly available on the Association’s website.

Shalunov said he plans to work on further legislation streamlining A.S. financial processes.

“We are trying to make the most of every dime that we take from students, and that starts with knowing where that money is going, but that is not the endpoint,” Shalunov said.

He emphasized the Association’s mission in serving the student population and the importance of having financial transparency and control for the entity.

“The Associated Students is a machine that converts student fees into bettering the lives of students on campus,” Shalunov said. “Keeping that in mind, we need to know very well how we’re spending the money to see what changes we need to make.”

A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the June 1, 2023, print edition of the Daily Nexus.

Sindhu Ananthavel

Sindhu Ananthavel (she/they) is the Lead News Editor for the 2023-24 school year. Previously, Ananthavel was the Deputy News Editor for the 2022-23 school year, the Community Outreach News Editor for the 2021-22 school year and an assistant news editor for the 2021-22 school year. She can be reached at news@dailynexus.com.