With the University Resources Committee adding two additional undergraduate representatives to its body this year, committee discussions regarding the University's budget allocation will include more perspectives on how the budget influences student life at Brown.
The committee, chaired by Provost Mark Schlissel P'15, currently includes five senior administrators, six faculty members, two staff members, four undergraduates, one medical student and two graduate students. The URC hears presentations from University offices and departments throughout the year and sends a report of its budget recommendations to the president in February. The president, in turn, uses these recommendations to write the budget sent for the Corporation's approval each February.
The increase from two to four undergraduate members stems from a proposal from the Undergraduate Council of Students that was passed by the faculty last May.
Ben Noble '13, a former Herald staff writer, is the sole returning representative to the URC and is joined this year by Daniel Pipkin '14, Abigail Plummer '15 and David Rattner '13, former vice president of UCS who was involved in the UCS proposal. In deciding the URC appointments, UCS sought students with a diversity of perspectives and the confidence to voice their opinions to the committee, said Ralanda Nelson '12, former UCS president.
Arthur Matuszewski '11, a member of the URC from 2009 to 2011, said faculty members and administrators on the URC are, on the whole, careful to consider budget topics from the student perspective. But since many of the senior administrator members look at University operations in a larger context, they often don't know about the "color and vibrancy" of programs they don't work with on a day-to-day basis, he said. Matuszewski said that as both an undergraduate and writing fellow, he was able to emphasize to the committee the importance of maintaining funding for academic support programs, which include the Writing Fellows Program.
Pipkin, who is vice chair of the Undergraduate Finance Board, said he understands the impact of the student activities fee on funding allocated to student groups and will keep it in mind during budget discussions.
Tuition increases draw considerable undergraduate focus when the URC releases its budget recommendations. Evan Schwartz '13, a former URC member, said he and other undergraduate representatives were vocal in questioning the constant rises. A 3.5 percent increase in tuition and fees may not sound like much, said Schwartz, but compounded over 20 years it yields a nearly 100 percent increase. But since the URC only hears proposals on additions to the budget, the implicit assumption is that tuition is going to continue to rise, Schwartz said.
As a member of the URC, Matuszewski said he began to appreciate the complexity of the University's decisions regarding tuition because he saw how it was used. He said he was committed to making sure that additional tuition money was well spent, rather than exclusively focusing on how much money was spent.
Undergraduate members of the URC are appointed by UCS and serve two-year terms on the committee. One impetus for the UCS proposal to increase the number of students was that first-year representatives on the committee often needed time to understand the committee's procedures before feeling comfortable enough to take an active role, said Schwartz, who was involved in the initiative to increase undergraduate representation.
Schlissel echoed Schwartz, saying that the experienced committee member was more effective in discussions, while the other was "a deer in the headlights." Schlissel said he supported the students' proposal because it would give students a more adequate voice on the committee with at least two experienced members.
Nelson said discussions to increase the number of students started last fall among several UCS members and then-URC student representatives Schwartz and Noble. UCS officers in April brought the proposal with Schlissel's support to the Faculty Executive Committee, which unanimously voted to pass it along to the faculty.
The proposal sparked discussion among the faculty, but ultimately passed by 38 to 25 votes. Luiz Valente, professor of Portuguese and Brazilian studies and comparative literature, raised the point that granting proportional representation to all student populations - undergraduate, graduate and medical - would lead to a "massive student presence" on the committee, according to the meeting minutes.
But since the committee agrees on its recommendations by discussion and not a formalized vote, there is no concern that the student constituency could "gang up into a voting block," said James Morgan, professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological studies and vice chair of the URC. Morgan and Kevin McLaughlin P'12, URC member and dean of the faculty, respectively, both said since there are already so many members, two additional undergraduate members do not drastically change the makeup of the council.
Schlissel said some faculty members expressed concern that the increasing student presence would diminish the faculty's influence. But the students' proposal and discussions made it clear that there would be no diminished faculty influence, said Anthony White '13, UCS president. The students formulating the proposal also pointed out that a significant portion of the University'
s revenue comes from tuition and fees, which affects the undergraduate community the most, Nelson added. The proposal stated that in addition to ameliorating the effect of the "learning curve" of undergraduate representatives, the change would better represent the vast diversity of the undergraduate student body while "expanding campus engagement" with University procedures.
The URC meets every week to hear proposals on additions to the budget and to then discuss what the budget recommendation should entail. Though what is added to the final budget often "sounds like a lot of money," Schwartz said, "the proposals are for a lot more."
In addition to its private weekly meetings, the URC holds a public forum for all members of the University community every year. Attendance from undergraduate students has been sparse in past years, Schwartz said, adding that he strongly encourages all students interested to attend. This year's forum will be Nov. 7 at 12 p.m. in Petteruti Lounge.