Getting university funding for Eastern’s Recognized Student Organizations is a top priority for Larry Ward, newly-elected student vice president for business affairs.

“I really want to make sure RSO funding gets off the ground,” Ward said. “I want students to be able to get a portion of their (student activity fee) money delivered to them through a proper funding process.”

Currently, student organizations do not receive fixed amounts of money each year for their projects and programming events.

“Over the summer, I mostly researched RSO funding at other Illinois universities,” Ward said. “I think if I get the RSO funding done, I’ll have done a good job this year.”

Money for RSO funding cannot be requested until this year’s student fees are moved to the Apportionment Board account. Once this transaction is made, Ward said he plans to transfer the money from the Apportionment Board account to a separate account for the proposed Student Leadership Council, a group that will unite and aid student organizations through publicity, recruitment, funding and programing.

The issue of RSO funding is an aspect of the Student Leadership Council that has yet to be developed. Ward cannot begin negotiations for university funding for RSOs until the Student Leadership Council proposal is drafted and approved.

In addition to working extensively with RSO funding, Ward also plans to create a Web site that will list and break down the various fees students pay.

“The Web site will inform students of what they pay per semester hour with tuition and fees. It will also give an explanation of the history of the fees and what they accomplish,” Ward said.

Though last semester Ward said his goal was to have the first phase of the Web site up and running by the end of September, he acknowledged it is going to take a little more time.

“I’m thinking mid-October for the Web site to be finished,” he said.

Instead of linking the tuition and fees Web site to the Student Government site as he previously intended, Ward said he now wants it to be a part of the Panther Access Web Services.

“I’d like to get it on PAWS so it’s more accessible to students,” he said.

Last semester, Ward said he would hold one or two interactive forums this semester where students can ask questions regarding tuition and fees. Now, however, he is not too optimistic about organizing and holding forums because of what he sees as a lack of student interest.

“It’s tough to get students together who really care about the issues,” Ward said.

However, he said if Student Government receives a high amount of input in October from pamphlets they plan to pass out, then a forum could be scheduled.

Student Government editor Nikki Jensen can be reached at [email protected]