Tentative FASA budget approved at council

The Fine Arts Student Alliance approved their tentative budget for the year at its first council meeting on Oct. 4 after debriefing members on what happened over the summer and outlining their plans for the months ahead.
Many aspects of the budget, such as the total revenue and the budget for operations, were speculative because FASA is still waiting to receive their fee levy funds to take those numbers into account before making the budget public.
FASA budgeted for an increase in the yearly honorariums given to executive members from $1,500 for each VP and $3,000 for the president to $3,000 per person for the 12-month full-year term.
Sim explained that the objective behind increasing honorariums is to compensate executives for the amount of work they put in and to entice skilled people to apply for positions within FASA.
According to FASA’s VP finance Evans Adrian, the Arts and Science Federation of Associations’ executives receive a total honorarium of $1,500 for the year, with the potential for bonuses based on their performance voted in by council. The Commerce and Administration Student Association reports that honorariums are $2,000 per year for the president and $1,000 for vice-presidents.
FASA intially projected a $700 deficit, but has since adjusted their budget to take those numbers into account. The now inconsequential deficit had originally been attributed to additional moving expenses. FASA spent much of the summer moving their offices from the fifth floor of the EV building. “We’re now in the basement of the VA [building],” said FASA president Paisley Sim. “Our space is great.”
FASA plans to get creative in terms of funding this year by seeking sponsorships to pay for their events, as well as applying for grants. “There are all these funding bodies that we’ve never really tapped into,” said Sim, citing the Department of Fine Arts and the Concordia Student Union as potential sources of money. This year’s Fine Arts orientation was partly paid through a COI grant from Concordia Counselling and Development.
Also at the council meeting, two councillors were voted into FASA’s special project grants jury, which is the body in charge of choosing which student proposals receive funding.
Two motions regarding the formation of a judicial committee in charge of dealing with any conflicts within council, and a committee to address changes to FASA’s policy documents, were stalled due to a lack of students at large (i.e. Fine Arts students who are neither FASA councillors nor executives) required in order for the committees to function. FASA plans to advertise these open positions to the student body.
Chuck Wilson was chosen to serve as FASA’s chair and presided over the rest of the meeting. Wilson was also recently appointed to Concordia’s Senate as one of twelve undergraduate student representatives.
Dean of Students Andrew Woodall and his assistant Jasmine Stuart were also scheduled to speak, but ended up cancelling at the last minute.
The council meeting was attended by representatives from some of FASA’s 20 different clubs as well as four affiliates: Art Matters Festival, Cafe X/Gallery X, Fine Arts Reading Room and the VAV Gallery.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the yearly honorariums for FASA executive members are $6,000 per person, when they are actually $3,000. The Concordian regrets this error and apologizes for any inconvenience it may have caused.

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