Every year, a new student appointee takes charge of the workings of the ASUCD $10.5 million budget.
Eli Yani, a sophomore political science major and Latin minor, was recently appointed as the new ASUCD Controller for the current term.
The controller is responsible for managing the ASUCD budget of over $10.5 million, as well as functioning as financial advisor to the senate and president, according to the ASUCD website. He is also in charge of suggesting policies to improve ASUCD commercial operations such as Classical Notes, the Coffee House and the Bike Barn.
“But I consider the job of controller as more than just financial,” Yani said.
Before being appointed to the position of controller, Yani held an internship with former ASUCD Controller Paul Harms, followed by a position as a staff assistant and eventually assistant controller.
Yani said this experience has given him an increased interest in financial operations and over a year’s worth of training for his current appointment – affording him the opportunity to observe and participate in the routine activities of the office while learning how to successfully apply ASUCD policy.
“I think Eli will make an excellent controller and will be successful in implementing his great new ideas,” Harms said in an e-mail interview. “I am also confident that he will do an excellent job continuing and improving the policies I created during my two terms as controller.“
While Yani does plan to continue many of the projects initiated by the previous controller, he also has several of his own ideas in mind. These include dealing with areas in the student government that he perceives to be in dire need of improvement, like balancing all association units together both as a whole and on a smaller scale in order to improve efficiency and historical consciousness.
“The biggest problem is institutional memory,” Yani said. “There is a lack of the continuation of knowledge due to high turnover rates within ASUCD.“
Additionally, the new controller hopes to improve the ASUCD budget, which has recently experienced a $20,000 shortfall. As a result, Yani believes that the student government is in need of fresh sources of revenue in the face of general inflation. He will be in charge of monitoring the spending of the various units and making sure that they stay within their budget to avoid general overspending.
Yani also plans to implement an ASUCD brand recognition campaign that seeks to further connect the students with the workings of ASUCD in terms of their operation and management of various campus services.
“I’m excited to be getting to work on this,” Yani said. “It will benefit not only ASUCD as a whole; but all students on campus as well.“
Yani holds office hours in the 344C Memorial Union on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2 to 3 p.m., and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to noon.
RITA SIMERLY can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
