The ASUCD is facing a roughly $200,000 difference between expected income and expenses
By VINCE BASADA — campus@theaggie.org
The ASUCD entered several days of budget hearings from March 6 to 9, ultimately approving cuts to several units and committees but not completely bridging the gap between projected incomes and expenses.
As of time of publication, ASUCD’s projected income for the 2025-26 academic year (AY) is $18,162,968, with an extra $5,639,078 expected from student fees. Total projected expenses, including salaries and wages, is $24,003,878. The result is a difference of $201,832.
The difference at the end of the first day of budget hearings was roughly $164,000, meaning that it had increased by some $37,000 by March 9.
An interactive pie chart of projected expenditures for AY 2025-2026 made by The California Aggie here.
The proposed budget presented by ASUCD President Gaius Ilupeju, who also serves as the ASUCD’s chief executive officer, included several austerity measures. One reason for the cuts was a decrease in allocation from student services to the ASUCD, resulting in a tighter budget going into the next year, according to ASUCD Controller Mostafa Rasheed.
Other justifications cited during the hearings included lower-than-expected profits from the Coffee House and Unitrans, low advertising revenues from The California Aggie — which is managed independently from the student government but relies on student funds — and other reductions in income streams.
Cuts made include the elimination of the Planet Her Committee, responsible for planning the female empowerment event first held in 2023, and the Aggie Mentors Committee. Expenses for the PRIDE unit were also reduced, now down to $12,500 from $20,250 in academic year 2024-25.
Unit directors and committee chairs from Picnic Day to The Pantry advocated throughout the several days of hearings for budgets they believed would best suit the needs of their organization, to varying levels of success. The amendments and changes to the proposed budget are administered by the 12 voting student senators, alongside the International and Transfer Student Representatives, as per the ASUCD Constitution. Budgets for each ASUCD unit and committee are ultimately determined by these student officers, with some exceptions for certain independent units.
ASUCD acts as both an employer of and the governing body for the undergraduate student population, with roughly 1,000 employees across its ranks. The highest budgeted units for the upcoming school year are Unitrans (allotted $9.9 million), the Coffee House (CoHo) ($6.3 million), ASUCD’s General Administration ($1.6 million) and the Entertainment Council ($640,000).
Current projected expenditure for Student Government is $516,884, plus an extra $90,000 allotted to the Senate Reserves. Additionally, the Executive Branch, including the offices of the President and Internal Vice President, is budgeted $118,000.
One measure in the proposed budget that was controversial amongst the table was the elimination of pay for students serving as members on student government committees (e.g. Undocuscholars Advocacy and Aid, STEM, Aggie Arts).
Discussion in favor of committee members’ pay was led by Internal Affairs Commission Chair Amanda Clark, Senate Pro Tempore Dhilena Wickramasinghe and Senator Amrita Julka, among others.
“As one of the two people [in the Senate] who actually has been in a committee, [committee members] do so much more work than most of the people on the [Senate] table right now,” Wickramasinghe said. “[For] people in commissions and committees, there’s so much more work than the three hours that they’re being allocated for”.
Committee member pay was ultimately secured, with a comment from Ilupeju that sacrifices would have to be made elsewhere to offset the change.
Concerns were also raised over the instability and lack of grants, given the current presidential administration, provided to ASUCD for events and other programs — especially those designed for women and people of color.
“There are less grants available in order to put on all these events,” Gender and Sexuality Commission (GASC) Chair Tristen Dillard said. “We need Senate support.”
There were new budget items in this year’s budget, including funding for the newly created Vital Emergency Shelter and Transitional Assistance (VESTA) sub-unit, tasked with managing a new transitional housing shelter at Russell Park in association with Aggie House. VESTA, part of the Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students unit, was allocated $51,842 for staff. The budget also allocates $80,000 for rental of the new Russell Park facility.
The prospective budget was released two days before budget hearings on March 4, three days later than required by ASUCD bylaws — as noted by several unit directors and senators throughout the meetings. In an email to ASUCD leaders, Rasheed, the ASUCD’s chief financial officer, apologized for the delay and attributed it to “significant accounting challenges.”
Budget hearings have typically been held in the last weeks of spring quarter but were moved up earlier this year to comply with university policy. Parts of the budget will likely be reviewed and reopened through the end of the year, including approval of the budgets of KDVS and The California Aggie. Both units were sent back to the Campus Media Board, the university’s independent governing body responsible for administration of those units, for further changes.
“There is still a possibility of fixing the [ASUCD] budget if needed in spring quarter as this was a very early proposal,” Rasheed said in a statement to The Aggie. “We will see as the quarter progresses.”
The final budget will be formally adopted during the first Senate meeting in fall quarter 2025 as part of Senate Bill #1. The ASUCD budget for the AY 2024-25 can be found on the ASUCD website.
Written by: Vince Basada — campus@theaggie.org
