Update on "Free Meals for Club Members at Your Expense"

For the original article, please click here:  http://rantsandravesforsalemcollegestudents.blogspot.com/2011/04/free-meals-for-club-members-at-your.html

A CAB representative by the name of Jane Wetherholt was willing to give me information after I posted my blog, here are the questions I asked her:

"Jane,

Before I begin, I want to just point out that almost everyone is missing the point of the blog post. What I was attacking was the use of our money for free meals by ALL group members under the student activity fee. The reason I put CAB and SGA into the blog so much was because you were the groups giving me the most answers, while everyone else was very hush hush.

Also, if you want to give me and [name deleted] information about CAB, that is wonderful, but all of the Salem students want to know. I'll ask you some questions and then I can post the answers on my blog so more people are aware. Also, you should email it out to the students. We want specifics. We know you do the dances, but what else, specifically, do you do?

Here is what I need answered:

1) Why does CAB get a corporate card?
2) What funds the corporate card?
3) Do you get money from the student activity fee AND a corporate card? Are they two separate things?
4) What is the limit per person per meal?
5) How many times do you go out a year?
6) What specifically has CAB done this past year (like, were you behind Lori Ostulund coming here or was that another committee?)
7) Why do we have to pay to get in the dances?
8) Is there ever money left over? If there is, where does it go?
9) Who gets to regulate how much money you spend? Can the students access your receipts?

Thank you for your time. If you want to meet in person, I can see you at nine o'clock on Sunday when I meet with SGA. However, I would prefer you give me written answers to the questions so I can post them correctly on my blog. Thank you."

This is what the CAB representative was willing to give me:
"I am happy to give you information and I would be more than willing to provide every Salem student with the same. I will be attending the meeting you mentioned which will take place on Sunday and I have also heard that there is a forum planned and I as well as Sarah Carter will be there to present CAB's financial statements to you and anyone else who wishes to hear and to know.

1) CAB does NOT get a corporate credit card. As part of the Student Activities office, Brooke Barber has a corporate credit card. 
2) This corporate credit card is funded by the Student Activities office, Dean Barr, and, I'm sure, the business office. If you would like more clarification on how this works, please contact Dean Barr or Brooke Barber as this is the limit of my knowledge.
3) Our funding is our allocation from the Student Activity fee. This is located in its own separate account and we, specifically CAB's Treasurer, have authorization to access it to pay for our events. At times, it has been necessary to use Brooke's corporate credit card (i.e., ordering things online). In those cases, the expenditures are refunded from CAB's account back to Student Activities.
5) Each CAB Executive Board goes out twice, at most three times, for a working meal during their term. In the case of this Exec Board, we have gone out three times: once to Macaroni Grille, once to Panera, and once to Ichiban. In the past, CAB's Exec Board members were work-study students and were compensated as such. Now, we are compensated with three working meals paid for by the Student Activities office as a thank you for the hard work we do. These meals were cleared by the Dean of Students. Additionally, a standard part of using a corporate credit card is having to justify your expenses and turn in receipts. Brooke Barber would have had to fill out an expense report for every single purchase on the card and have it cleared by the Business Office. If an expense is not cleared, she would have to pay for it out of pocket. I'm sure that Brooke can provide you copies of those receipts and expense reports detailing those dinners. CAB has had additional working meals, but those meals could not be cleared by the Business Office and we paid for them ourselves.
4) Brooke has never told us that there is a limit per person per meal. That being said, I will be discussing with her whether there should be a limit. Perhaps this was justified by the fact that CAB does not order t-shirts for its members and has to work events rather than fully enjoying them. I will keep you updated on this matter and let you know what we decide. However, I will also tell you that I don't feel that the members of CAB abused their privileges in any way. As college students, we've been conditioned to eat cheaply, even when the meal is being paid for by someone else.
6) During this board's term, we planned Spring Cocktail 2010, Fall Lawn 2010, Semi-Formal 2010, and Formal 2011. These events took up the bulk of our time, resources and energy. Additionally, we hosted Grocery Bingo in the Refectory every SGA Tuesday (a free event). At the end of last year, we co-hosted Stress Fest (an event on Reading Day of Spring Semester) with SGA and the Off-Campus Association. SGA and CAB split the cost of renting an inflatable obstacle course, OCA had tie-dye and CAB hosted karaoke in the Refectory during the midnight breakfast. We will probably be hosting a similar event at the end of this semester, but as I am outgoing president, I won't have as much a hand in planning that. CAB also has the opportunity to plan other social events. In the past, there have been what are known as Mystery Trips where people sign up and get on the bus and go to an unknown location. We discussed planning such a trip or another additional event, but ultimately decided that we would focus our energy and resources on the four main events and Grocery Bingo. Because of that decision, we have more money left in the account to give next year's CAB a head start. On Wednesday (04/06/11), the outgoing and incoming CAB boards met to discuss Spring Cocktail and the upcoming year. The incoming board has already discussed additional events they would like to put on, including mystery trips and more on-campus social events. They have a goal to have the first two major events of the year (Fall Lawn and Semi-Formal) entirely planned before this summer, which will allow them to have more time to plan these additional events.
7) There are two dances which students must pay to get into: Semi-Formal and Formal. Spring Cocktail, the third dance, is free and so is Fall Lawn, though I would not strictly categorize it as a dance. The reason students must pay for Semi-Formal and Formal is because of the additional costs that are incurred in hosting an event off-campus. The tickets do not pay for these costs; rather, they earn us back some of the money we've expended and keep us from going in to debt. I will say that one of the things I regret most about my term is the raising of the formal ticket prices to $20. This was a mistake. I have heard many comments about the price and have heard of many people who could not attend because of it. I can only say in my defense that my perception was skewed by the fact that I come from a position of privilege, which I am sure is a very poor defense indeed. I also regret that I had to come to that realization instead of knowing it beforehand. I tried to offset this by having many more opportunities for students to volunteer than would be available normally. However, CAB's first priority is making these events accessible to all students and I believe my efforts fell short of . This is another issue that I am confident the new board will tackle. I know that they will come up with a solution that will make each event affordable for the students and keep CAB debt-free.
8) As stated previously, there should be money left over each year, though the CAB board of 08-09 did not (through no fault of their own). The past two years I have been on CAB, we have had money left in our account at the end of the year. This money is used for expenses before the fiscal year begins and the student activities fee is allotted to campus organizations. Since Fall Lawn happens in the second or third week of school, this leftover money is used to pay deposits on bands and staging equipment. We still have Spring Cocktail left to plan and pay for, but I know that we will have a solid budget after those costs to help pay for Fall Lawn.
9) There is a system through which all allocated organizations use to track their expenditures. First, all receipts are given to the Treasurer. The treasurer organizes these receipts and fills out a report. This report is approved by organization's advisor (in this case, Brooke Barber). These reports are sent to the business office, who approve or deny the expenditures and/or reimbursements. Each month, the treasure of an organization gives all receipts and reports to the treasurer of SGA who oversees the expenditures of all clubs which are allocated money out of the students activities fee. All of these expenditures are also received by the Executive Financial Board who approve and can also question expenditures, as well as decide that certain organizations are receiving too much money from the student activities fee. This is my understanding of the system. For a more detailed explanation, I would suggest you talk to the Treasurer of SGA, Kim Wisen, or a member of the Executive Financial Board. At this moment, Sarah Carter and Brooke Barber are finalizing this Exec Board's financial statements and will have them ready for your perusal if you so desire. We will be ready to present them to the student body as well. I have asked that it be ready for Sunday's meeting.

I hope that this has answered many of your questions and more. If anyone has further questions, they may contact me via facebook, e-mail or phone. I would rather my personal information stay off the internet, so I would ask that you not post it on your blog, but I believe you have my contact information and you may forward it to interested individuals as you fit."


-Jane Wetherholt

Again readers, you decide.  I know how I feel about this information.