Correction: This article has been revised to correct an error that incorrectly stated what action the Association of Student Governments took regarding their budget. The ASG approved only its non-recurring budget, not the whole budget. The recurring portion of the budget, which is funded by student fees, was approved unanimously at the April meeting.
WILMINGTON — Student leaders from across North Carolina convened this weekend to get acquainted with one another, learn the operations of a statewide student government organization and approve part of its $260,000 budget.
The UNC-system Association of Student Governments, charged with representing all the students in the system, held its first meeting of the academic year at UNC-Wilmington.
The meeting had few pieces of legislation on the table and little or no debate on those straightforward bills.
“We came in, got done what we needed to do and finished,” said ASG President Greg Doucette.
The association also approved part of its $260,000 budget, which comes from about $203,000 in recurring student fees and a surplus of about $56,000 that rolled over from the previous year.
The money is allocated similarly to last year. The bulk of the funds are put aside for operating expenses, particularly salaries for officers and travel expenses for everyone in ASG.
About $23,000 is allocated for hotels, $5,000 for travel to and from meetings, and $5,000 for officer travel. About $90,000 is reserved for stipends, salaries, and general compensation of ASG members.
The association approved the budget with only one opposing vote and no debate.
The members mostly focused on getting oriented to the processes and routines of the organization, such as how to appropriately conduct and participate in a meeting or how to bring up legislation.
Doucette said that the meeting attendance came close to breaking the organization’s attendance records and that 90 percent of the attendees were returning ASG members.
“The vast majority of people have had some involvement with ASG in the past,” he said. “We don’t have to do as much preparatory work.”
Jasmin Jones, UNC-Chapel Hill student body president, said she enjoyed meeting the other student body presidents and sharing ideas.
Jones’ predecessor, former Student Body President J.J. Raynor, sent a proxy to all of the ASG meetings last year.
Jones said she is already thinking about collaborating on campus safety issues with leaders from N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University.
“I thought everybody shared the same excitement about the upcoming year,” she said. “I just had a really good time.”
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