System gains oversight of ASG purse

University officials have quietly intensified their scrutiny of spending by the UNC-system Association of Student Governments, part of a broader effort to impose tighter oversight of the group.

For the first time, all spending by the student-run association will be screened by a representative of the UNC-system academic affairs office before funds are allocated.

"This is a new process now that we're putting in place," said Kemal Atkins, the system's director for academic and student affairs. "We are providing some oversight to make sure their expenditures are in alignment with their budget."

There has been no suggestion of financial impropriety on the part of any student officials. The ASG undergoes an annual independent audit and has always passed cleanly.

But there has been growing concern on the part of university administrators about a lack of focus in ASG spending. The group will receive about $190,000 in student fees this year.

"In the past, they haven't really looked at how we've been spending our money," said ASG President Cody Grasty. "Now they're scrutinizing us a lot more and making sure we're spending a lot more thoughtfully."

It is unclear whether system officials will consider blocking expenditures they consider inappropriate or what standard will be used to judge spending requests.

But the addition of stricter financial oversight is in keeping with a recent pattern of more involvement by UNC-system officials. Administrators have grown increasingly frustrated by a series of crises within the ASG and have shown a greater willingness to intervene in the student-led group.

Last semester, the group's president was forced to resign after being convicted of misdemeanor assault. And in each of the past few years, the 17 campuses that comprise the association have squabbled publicly about how to spend tens of thousands of dollars in discretionary funds.

Greg Doucette, president of N.C. State University's Student Senate and one of ASG's most active members, said the association deserves to have its spending more closely monitored.

"In light of the schizophrenic leadership and the general lack of performance by the Council of Student Body Presidents, it's a necessary measure to slow down ASG's slide until someone competent can take charge," Doucette said.

"They need to make sure we're not blowing money on stuff that's not being used."

The ASG did not begin receiving the student fee money - $1 paid by every student in the UNC system - until 2002. Since then the group's members have engaged in a near-constant debate about how to spend it.

More than $84,000 of the annual budget goes to pay for an office and office manager in downtown Raleigh, and another $19,760 is kept by the UNC system as a fee for legal and financial services.

Almost all of the rest - more than $86,000 - is discretionary. Much of it is spent on salaries for student officers and monthly meetings of ASG delegates.

But tens of thousands of dollars are still left over each year, which has fueled speculation that the group could lose at least a portion of its fee money.

System administrators have said the fee is not on the chopping block, at least for now. But Grasty said student officials are watching closely to see how administrators exercise this new level of financial oversight.

"We're just kind of worried about how this new policy might pan out," he said.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.