By The Macalester College Student Government

In the coming weeks, Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) will be moving forward on plans to allocate the Budget Rollover funds. These funds consist of the accumulation of unused student activity fees from the past six years. The Student Services and Relations Committee (SSRC), a committee of MCSG, has designed a rollover plan that will allocate these funds to a specific project desired and designed by the student body. Below is the step-by-step plan that will be used. The ultimate goal of this process is to provide structure as well as a clear method of allocating the funds. The timeline for this process is outlined in the steps below. The final vote for the projects is set to be November 17 to 21, 2011. Results announced November 22, 2011. Step 1: Forum for ‘Getting the Basics Down’ 4:30pm – 6pm, October 20, 2011 Location: TBD This will be an informational meeting. During this forum, MCSG will present what the rollover is, what caused it, what happened last semester and how much money is there. MCSG understands that there are multiple perspectives concerning the rollover so we found this step to be necessary, separate from possible ideas that the funds could be spent on. Step 2 + 3: Forum for Ideas and Selection of Volunteers 4:00pm – 6:00pm, October 23, 2011 Location: TBD This will be a discussion of new, and old, project proposals. Those who cannot attend may E-mail their ideas in. MCSG Executives are also happy to meet with anyone with an idea who cannot make it to the meeting. At the end of the aforementioned forum, volunteers will be appointed to champion the proposals through the rest of the process. Project proposals that do not have advocates will not be considered. Step 4: A Rollover for All Students October 24 -26, 2011 MCSG carefully reviews each idea, we find out what ideas are feasible, legal, and fair. We evaluate each idea based on scope, scale, and its agreement with general MCSG/FAC spending policies. Ideas will be discussed at the legislative body meeting, MCSG Executives Meeting and the Financial Affairs Committee (FAC). This part protects the students who are simply too busy, too cool, or too shy to involve themselves. Step 5: Workshop of Ideas November 11th, 2011 The champion-idea combos who make it though step 4 sit down with the MCSG execs, the SSRC, and a representative from the administration. We will talk logistic: Synergy? How are you going to pay for this, that, and the other thing? Where can you save money? Can we do two proposals? What does the administration think? Do they want to help? Proposals will mature into fully formed plans. Step 6: Survey to the Student Body Sent out November 6th, 2011 in the morning, Survey closes November 8th, 2011 at 10pm Location: Your Email Inbox A survey goes out to the student body but it does not ask about specific ideas. The volunteers who are championing the project proposals use the results of this survey to guide them. It will provide insight to the campus. This survey asks general questions such as: What do students think the rollover should be spent on? Recreational facilities? A performance space? A social space? An event? Something that brings people together? Step 7: Public Presentations Time: TBD, November 14, 2011 Location: TBD Our volunteers present their ideas to the student body. These presentations will also be video taped in order to share with the student body. They outline the specifics, the purpose, and how it agrees with the data from the survey. E.g. “Students said they want this, well this idea provides just that…” Step 8: The Vote Ballots will be sent November 17, 2011 and closed November 21, 2011 at 10pm There will be a campus wide vote. MCSG will send a ballot to the student body with all the project proposals that have it made it through the process. Less than five ideas, each person gets one vote for one proposal. More than five ideas, every one ranks each idea on a scale from 1 to 3. Winner takes all. Results will be announced November 22nd, 2011 [email protected]