The San Jose State Student Union board of directors differed on its new budget and introduced leadership changes during a tense hybrid meeting in the Student Union and on Zoom Tuesday.
The Student Union, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that operates the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center, Event Center, the Student Union and ATM facility, according to its website.
The buildings are operated by the Student Union board’s 12 members, which is composed of five students and seven faculty members.
The newly appointed Student Union board chair is political science sophomore Isaiah Andrews and the new vice chair is advertising junior Joshua Reyes. The finance, audit, facilities and programs committee chairs were also announced.
Because the board is a nonprofit, the money used to operate its facilities comes from the $381 Student Union fee every student pays with tuition, according to the SJSU Bursar’s Office website.
Tamsen Burke, Student Union, Inc. executive director, said the Student Union is currently negotiating its operating agreement with Patrick Day, vice president of student affairs.
“We have moved through some phases of agreeables, there are some areas that are still within negotiations,” Burke said during the meeting. “I have met with [Day] as to our next steps moving forward. We will again convene with the special committee on the areas of negotiations.”
Burke said the negotiations relate to the transition of resources and employees between the Student Union, Inc. and the university.
Some employees will now be considered university personnel and report to university officials instead of their former Student Union, Inc. employers. There will be some differences in benefits and salaries that need to be considered during the transition, Burke said.
She also said she’d like to use some of the money in the university trust fund to help operate the Student Union, especially during the organizational transition.
Burke said the current funds sitting in the Student Union cash reserve will amount to zero by Sept. 30, meaning there will be a large gap within the new budget until a negotiated one is approved by Charlie Faas, vice president for administration and finance.
The Student Union will need a certain budget in order to operate, Burke said.
The university trust fund currently contains student fees and revenue from the previous year, fees that haven’t been transferred from the university trust fund for the Student Union to use.
“We have students that are paying fees for the academic year that the Student Union has the right to request,” Sonja Daniels, associate vice president for campus life, told Faas during the meeting.
Burke said the Student Union board would like to work out a way to have the trust fund money transferred back to the Student Union because some of it was collected through student fees for union operations.
However, Faas said there’s more than enough money in the Student Union reserves to cover those expenses.
“I fully believe there are ample reserves, short term and long term, within the Student Union to bridge us until we have a full term [budget] agreement here,” Faas said.
Burke explained she’d like to keep the reserve money to fulfill commitments made to previous employees, prior to the transition.
“It could be months before this gets resolved and students need a voice for the use of their fees and dollars,” Daniels said.
None of the student board members were included in the financial discussion.
Faas continued to push against using the university trust fund for the Student Union operations.
“There will not be a single dollar spent out of the trust fund that doesn't go through this board,” Faas said. “I think that it is extremely clear that there are ample dollars within the Student Union to cover its operations and we will exercise those dollars before going into the trust account.”
He also said there are $12-13 million in the Student Union long term reserves that should be more than enough to cover any expenses.
But, Burke said she wants the money to fund other commitments.
“I completely will approve and sign off on any gap, that, there, is what I'm telling you,” Faas told Burke. “I told you last year as well that there won't be a gap, and there wasn't a gap last year, and there won't be a gap this year.”
More budget negotiations are expected to continue in the near future between the Student Union and university administrators.
