The University of Minnesota Student Services Fees Committee released its final recommendations for administrative units last week, with little deviation from the initial recommendations.
Administrative units are larger fees-receiving units that include the Learning Abroad Center, the Minnesota Daily, Radio K, Northrop Concerts and Lectures –– which provides summer programming — the Student Conflict Resolution Center and Boynton Health Service.
The committee recommended a $250,000 “budget sweep” of the Minnesota Daily’s fees request due to its large financial reserves — $50,000 more than they originally recommended.
According to the committee’s report, the Daily has long-term reserves and more than $400,000 in a short-term account.
The Daily covers the Daily’s fees request as a part of covering the entire fees process. The Daily interviewed Jacob Piekarski, the Daily’s president, who has no control over editorial content.
Piekarski said he was disappointed because he thinks the committee didn’t take a number of things into consideration. He plans to file an appeal.
“The appeal isn’t necessarily based on the budget sweep, but we do hope for a reduction [in the budget sweep],” he said. “We would like to have our take on what happened heard, and hopefully that will persuade the appeals committee that there is merit to our argument.”
The Daily has a technology replacement policy that replaces one half of the organization’s equipment every three years. But the committee said the Daily should spread that cost over multiple years instead.
The committee stayed with its original recommendation of $56,000 for Northrop programming for next year and $0 for the following. The organization originally requested $75,000 for both years
Because some administrative units apply for a two-year period, the program could reapply this year for fiscal year 2014.
Northrop Concerts and Lectures did not return multiple interview requests.
Administrative units that plan to appeal must submit applications to the Appeals Committee by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.