Click the graphic to view a breakdown of ASI’s new budget plan.
Dalton Runberg / The Collegian

As Fresno State students wave farewell to summer and welcome piles of homework and midterms, the Associated Students, Inc. is preparing financially for the fall semester.

“We want to do the most we can with the money students are paying this year,” Jim Stinecipher, vice president of ASI finances said.

ASI is working to make upcoming semesters even more productive than the previous, Stinecipher said.

The new budget was set at roughly $576,000 which is lower in comparison to previous semesters when it reached $648,000. “We have some other revenue sources,” Stinecipher added, “but only about $7,000 makes up miscellaneous income we get from those sources.”

The vast majority of ASI money are student fees, Stinecipher said. Students without fee waivers pay $34.50 into a student body fee.

“ASI gets $15 from each student,” Stinecipher said.

”¨“About 60 percent of the money goes to students and student programs,” Stinecipher added. This includes anything from purchasing newspapers to funding club events and paying student employees.

Twenty percent is going toward paying staff members. Some staff members were also given cell phones to remain on call due to the nature of their positions, Stinecipher said.

Another 20 percent is going toward fee management. “The ASI senate passed some revisions to the budget,” Stinecipher said. “Those will go to the president for his approval.” Stinecipher said he foresees no problems.

The budget for office supplies comes to approximately $14,000 and rent is $16,000.

“A big chunk of money goes to a number of external groups,” Stinecipher said.

Those groups include accountants, management and financial auditors. All of these are paid along with banking fees, dues to organizations, legal fees and insurance. These costs total $105,000.

The senate approved a five percent pay increase for the office manager and ASI coordinator. “It’s about $4,000 between the both of them,” Stinecipher said.

“Times are hard right now and it looks terrible raising salaries,” Stinecipher said, “but there have been changes in job descriptions and titles and duties.”

The ASI coordinator is taking on bigger roles and her title has changed from director of university affairs to ASI coordinator.

“The office manager title hasn’t changed, but she has taken on coordinating student systems and doing more with our organization,” Stinecipher added.

Neither employee has received a raise. Stinecipher said. ASI contacted other schools and retrieved tax documents for information and discovered Fresno State had one of the lowest paying ASI organizations in the CSU system.

Stinecipher said some CSUs are entirely different in terms of what their ASI organizations do and what services are provided.

“We try to find ones more comparable to ours and compare salaries,” he said. This would amount to a $4,000 change, which is 0.7 percent.

“Last year, president [Pedro Ramirez] was an unpaid volunteer,” Stinecipher said, “So that cost wasn’t included in the salary. It looks like an $8,000 increase, but president [Selena Farnesi] is being paid this year. Nothing has changed with executives except being paid in full.”

ASI has money in reserves. The organization is hoping to do more with the money available and leave less in reserves.

“From a student standpoint, that’s money not being used,” Stinecipher said. “We are planning for more this year than before.”

One of ASI’s goals is running a polling station on campus during elections so students may participate in voting.

“It was done a few years ago,” Stinecipher said. “We’re looking for the best way to make it work.”

In hopes of increasing access to senate meetings, ASI wants to equip the meeting room with microphones for senators.

“The meetings are streamed online,” Stinecipher said. “The only problem is they’re impossible to hear.”

Stinecipher said ASI is also offering internships through the New York Times and The Fresno Bee. The organization is extending into the community and spreading awareness via social networking. A Facebook page was created in support of “Fresno State Students for Revitalization,” Stinecipher said.

“We are looking for students to sit on ASI committees,” Stinecipher added. “A lot of big work on campus happens in those committees.”

Students can visit USU 316 and 317 for more information and sign-up forms. A senator position is currently vacant within the College of Health and Human Services.