As a part of the University of MinnesotaâÄôs student service fees process, many student groups are required to undergo an external audit before they are recommended any money for the following year. Transparency and accountability are important parts of the student service fees process. However, the current situation is a burden on student groups, many of which have a high turnover of leadership from year to year.
When the audit requirement was established, the intent was for groups to be audited every year or every other year.
However, student groups are now audited on a two- or three-year cycle.
For some student groups, the gap presents a serious and unfair challenge as their high turnover of group officers makes proper record keeping difficult at best.
In order to lighten the record-keeping burden on groups, audits should be conducted every two years.
This would decrease the number of students responsible for record keeping in between audits. Additionally, if student groups became accustomed to preparing for audits every second year, it would be imperative for them to develop better long-term record-keeping habits.
Finally, a small amount of the student service fees should go to paying for pre-auditing training so that all student groups know what is expected of them throughout the auditing process.
This small additional cost is worthwhile to help ensure that all student groups have fair and equal access to student service fees.
Student service fees monies should be available to all eligible student groups. Increasing the frequency of audits and providing pre-audit training are important steps to improve the process.