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.”