The University of South Florida Student Government has a budget problem.
It receives approximately $13.5 million annually in student fees. But it has about $20 million in spending requests. For at least the past eight years, the student government has found a middle ground and allocated approximately $18 million annually. It has been able to do that because it has had millions of dollars in savings, which have helped it bridge the funding gap for years.
Ethan Walsh, the lieutenant governor for USF’s Tampa campus, said the disconnect happens because fee incomes haven’t increased, but inflation has.
“One thing is that the minimum wage increase has happened, as well as just overall staff wage increases. And then just the price of commodities going up,” Walsh said.
Inflation has weakened spending power. While, on paper, the amount allocated (the nominal amount) has remained consistent, the purchasing power (real amount) has steadily declined.
The student government was able to build up its reserves in part because of COVID-19, according to Justin Lecker, the deputy financial officer for USF’s Tampa campus.
“ No one was able to spend their money because we weren’t able to host in-person organizations and events,” Lecker said. “So that’s why the surplus and that account grew so much in 2020.”
But the reserves are running out. By 2027, the savings, excluding the emergency fund, are expected to hit zero. That means that, instead of distributing $18 million, the student government will only be able to distribute what it earns from student fees, which is approximately $13.5 million.
And clubs are feeling the squeeze.
Michael Fusanella is the president of the College Republicans club at USF. He said that funding the club has become tougher.
In the 2022-2023 school year, the club had over $6,000 in funding. The following year, the club faced a modest dip, but was still given a little over $5,000. So when it had only received $924, it took him a moment to realize that it was for the whole year.
“ I was kinda shocked when the budget came back and I was like, ‘Oh my God, only $942 for this year,’” Fusanella said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, Jesus. Like, we are really gonna have to restrain ourselves.”
The money that the club receives is usually used for food and catering, according to Fusanella. But with the recent cuts, he said he might need to start fundraising.
“ I want to leave the club in a better financial position than I found it,” Fusanella said. “[I want] to start going around to maybe some local Republican clubs and asking for their generosity because it’s tough.”
To keep the club afloat, he said he’s had to put down some of his own money, which Fusanella said has been at least $200 thus far.
But the college republicans are not the only ones. The college democrats at USF are facing a similar issue, even if it's more self-inflicted. Its Tampa campus received no funding.
“We didn’t receive any money, but that’s on us because we didn’t fill out all the proper paperwork for that, but we didn’t really see a large cut in our St. Pete funding from the previous year,” said Tyler Nelson Williams, the president of USF’s College Democrats. Williams is also USF’s senate president, but was representing the college democrats when he spoke to WUSF.
He said it’s been challenging to have the money to support one campus for two.
“We just bought a tablecloth so we can start tabling so people can recognize our chapter more easily,” Williams said. “We’ve been using it at Tampa campus to table as well. So, we’re grateful to use the St. Pete money while it’s a stretch.”
But it’s not just the political clubs facing cuts. Sports clubs like the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams also had their budgets slashed.
The men’s team lost $5,000 in funding this year, meaning they can’t afford as many home games.
“ If we wanna have a weekend where we have, where we host two home games, that’s a $6,000 weekend,” said Jackson Keller, a defenseman and the club’s president. “So it’s made it very difficult to play at home. And we saw a little bit of that last year, where we had to travel more than we wanted to, and then even more this season.”
During the team’s 28-game season, only eight are at home, according to Keller.
To remedy the spending cuts, the Tampa campus’s executive branch has been trying to find new ways to reduce expenses.
“ We’ve always allowed them to ask for a lot of money, and then we’ve had to come back and cut just because we don’t have the money available,” said Emma Goodwin, the governor of the Tampa campus.
“What we’re looking to do this year, for future years, is to limit the amount that they can ask for…So we’re doing the cut on the front end rather than having them think that they’re gonna get $20,000 and only get three or four [thousand].”
The executive branch has also been creating presentations for the Office of the Provost, Dean of Students, and the USF CFO to identify areas where the student government branch can offload some of its costs.
“We have 13 student success departments on campus,” Goodwin said. “We asked for their salaries to be funded by a different pot of money that would save us about a million dollars. We ask for staff salaries to be funded by a different pot of money. So, it’s all about where the university can find alternative funding for some of the things that are currently funded by A&S [activities and service fees].”
Goodwin said that they are currently mainly making cuts to clubs and programming, which are the events that the university student government puts on for students.
However, until a more permanent solution is found, clubs and student life will be among the aspects most impacted by the cuts.
