Associated Students Leadership
By KIRSTIE HETTINGA
Associated Students’ Leadership program’s budget was cut
by $15,000 this year because the AS finance committee believed it a lot
of money for very few students.
The Leadership program’s budget was cut from $35,000 to $20,000
for 2004-2005.
“We were reviewing how many programs they were putting on, how many
students were being involved in it and we thought that that was a heck
of a lot of money for all of the students at Fresno State to be paying
to only reach as many (students) as they did.” said Shelley Young,
a finance committee member and the Associated Students’ senator
for the College of Health and Human Services.
Geri Yang, student director of leadership, said that the program affects
about 200 students each year with its retreats and workshops.
The Leadership Program is funded entirely by AS. Associated Students receives
$15 of the $29 in student fees charged with tuition, these fees form the
budget of about $550,000 used by AS each year.
The finance committee calculates how much each program and organization
receives. The entire senate then votes on the budget.
Thirty students are scheduled to attend an “Emerging Leaders Retreat”
at Bass Lake this month.
Kristie Godfrey, interim adviser for Leadership and program adviser for
USU Productions, said the weekend is designed for students with little
or no leadership experience, mainly freshmen and sophomores.
This is the second retreat to Bass Lake for 2004-2005. Thirty students
attended last semester. Godfrey said Leadership received almost 100 applications
for the retreat in the fall, bringing about the second retreat this semester.
Godfrey said leadership received between $3,000 and $4,000 from Student
Affairs to help provide for the second retreat.
According to student director Yang, the first retreat cost about $5,000.
The leadership program covers all expenses: food, lodging and transportation
for the 30 participants.
In addition to the Emerging Leaders Retreat, Yang said the Leadership
Program affects more students with its workshops. Leadership offers three
to five workshops each semester. Godfrey estimated that between 10 and
30 students attend each workshop.
During the presidential election, Leadership put on the Leaders Vote workshop
with the Chicano student organization, MEChA, and a group from the women’s
studies program. More than 100 students registered to vote.
In past years, the Leadership program offered one-day retreats open to
more participants. The larger retreats featured keynote speakers.
Due to the reduced budget, Leadership is now more dependent on the contribution
of staff members at Fresno State. Disney, which will present at the Leadership
in Entertainment workshop, is not charging leadership for the speaker.
Yang said companies such as Disney and past presenter, Pepsi, believe
programs such as Leadership are important. and that the students of today
who receive leadership training become a more skilled work force for tomorrow.
Yang said she believes the $20,000 budget for Leadership is justified
and she would like to see the budget increase. She said an increased budget
would allow for the expansion of the Leadership resource library, which
is open to all students, and would provide additional training for the
Leadership board members. A part of the Leadership budget also goes to
paying for the positions of student director and assistant student director.
The position of assistant student director was not filled when Yang was
promoted to director.
Yang said the Emerging Leaders Retreat produces students who are more
excited about being involved on campus. She said many students who expressed
an interest in the Leadership program were looking for an outlet and that
most students who gained experience “just ran with it.”
Godfrey said the course load and workload of today’s students deters
them from participation. “We have to do all we can to convince them
that this a good experience,” Godfrey said.
Senator Shelley Young had similar thoughts about student participation.
“Fresno State is a commuter campus and a lot of people don’t
care,” Young said. “A lot of people just go to their class
and go home. They’re here to get their degree and not necessarily
have the college experience. We can only affect the students that want
to be affected.”
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