The Tufts Community Union Senate held their annual Budget Day — allocating $2,608,225 to over 200 student organizations for the 2023 fiscal year — and heard two resolutions in a meeting on Sunday night in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room.
The TCU budget is derived from the $396 Student Activities Fee that undergraduates paid this academic year. For Budget Day, all TCU-funded clubs are divided into nine councils, with each council made up of thematically related student organizations, plus an engineering council and an additional division for miscellaneous umbrella organizations such as club sports.
TCU Associate Treasurer Jalen Little began Budget Day by presenting Council One, which is made up of 34 cultural organizations.The budget of $147,558 for Council One passed with 24 senators voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining.
Allocations Board member Enrique Rodríguez then presented the budget for Council Two, which includes programming organizations. The budget of $38,527 for Council Two passed with 25 senators voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining.
Rodríguez, a junior, also oversaw the allocation of $101,114 to the Engineering Council. This budget passed with 25 senators voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining.
Allocations Board member João Ribeiro presented the budget for Council Three, which includes 14 media groups. Council Three’s $114,426 budget passed with 23 senators voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining.
Allocations Board member Nessren Ourdyl presented the budget for Council Four, which includes religious groups at Tufts and is composed of nine organizations. The proposed budget of $98,546 for Council Four passed with 24 senators voting in favor, none opposed and one abstaining.
Allocations Board member and Assistant Treasurer Natalie Rossinow presented on Council Five, which consists of 43 performance groups. The proposed budget of $167,518 passed with 24 senators voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining.
Allocations Board member Arielle Galinsky presented the budget for Council Six, which is composed of miscellaneous organizations on campus, including competition groups and community service groups. Council Six’s budget of $162,234 passed with 25 senators voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining.
Allocations Boards member Kristin Ng budgeted Council Seven, which is made up of 31 pre-professional groups. The budget of $56,765 for Council Seven passed with 25 senators voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining.
Allocations Board member Ritesh Vidhun budgeted Council Eight, which includes political and advocacy groups. The Allocations Board allocated a total of $34,744 of funding, which passed with 23 senators voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining.
TCU President Amma Agyei budgeted Council Nine, which includes the TCU Senate, the TCU Judiciary, the Elections Commission and the SMFA student government. The proposed budget of $61,793 passed with 26 senators voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining.
Allocations Board Chair and TCU Treasurer Elizabeth Hom presented the budget for Council 10, which includes umbrella groups such as club sports, the Leonard Carmichael Society and the Tufts University Social Collective. Council 10 received a total of $1,340,000.
Club sports received $225,000, the Leonard Carmichael Society received $60,000 and TUSC received $1,055,000. Council 10 passed with 26 senators voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining.
After a brief break, TCU Parliamentarian Ibrahim AlMuasher introduced two resolutions.
The first, “A Resolution Calling for Additional Members for the Presidential Search Committee,” aims to diversify the search committee for University President Anthony Monaco’s replacement. The effort would involve adding one professor representing the SMFA, one humanist professor from a department with a graduate program and one undergraduate representative from the School of Arts and Sciences.
Trustee Representative Max Miller and SMFA Community Senator Ryan Steuerman, who authored the resolution, noted that the current search committee does not accurately represent Tufts’ enrollment. The resolution will be voted on in a future meeting.
Next, “A Resolution Calling for Financial Investments and Equitable Policy Regarding Students’ Mental Health” brought attention to the improvement of mental health resources on campus. The resolution calls for additionional counselors, long-term in-house counseling, shorter appointment wait times, training for residential advisors in referring their students to resources and clearer guidelines for faculty to address the mental health needs of students. The resolution will be voted on in a future meeting.
AlMuasher then proposed an amendment to the TCU Constitution that would automatically suspend a senator for noncompliance with the Senate’s attendance policy. The Senate will vote on this amendment in a future meeting.
Vice President Tim Leong opened the floor for updates from the committee chairs.
Galinsky, a sophomore who chairs the Services Committee, noted Class of 2025 Senator Eva Sheedy’s project on reducing plastic in the dining halls, Class of 2024 Senator Helina Mesfin’s work on the headshot photoshoot and the expansion of the Menstrual Product Project this week. She also discussed the committee’s work on the upcoming textbook exchange and final exam self-care kits.
Education Committee Chair Claire Bolash highlighted her committee’s work on the resources fair, which took place on April 6.
Class of 2025 Senator Niki Patel discussed her hopes to address the lack of diversity among Tufts admissions officers as well as overenrollement.
TCU Diversity Officer Jaden Pena called attention to the SMFA Prom, which will take place this Friday and is open to everyone.
TCU Historian Mariana Janer-Agrelot noted that the deadline to apply for the student leadership stipend is April 15, and that the link to the application is available on the TCU Senate Instagram.
The body conducted a closed session before adjourning.
