The EIU Student Senate was presented budget proposals for fiscal year 2027 for the Office of Leadership and Engagement, University Board and the Student Government Association at its meeting on Wednesday.

The largest proposed budget is for University Board at $221,000, according to the resolution.

According to UB vice president Madison Hilgenberg, UB is a student-based organization focused on events and programming.

Hilgenberg said the general costs — which include the scholarships for the chair and vice chair, the cost of dues for membership in the National Association for Campus Activities, attendance to the NACA national conference, the UB retreat and office supplies — total $20,000.

These general costs are down from last year’s budget of $44,975.

According to UB chair Delores Jordan, the cost for UB marketing, a section that includes all marketing materials for events, is $12,000. This is an increase from last year’s $11,725.

Jordan said UB productions, which includes the cost for running events and the employee payroll, costs $11,000, which is an increase from last year’s $10,757.

According to Hilgenberg, the UB homecoming budget is separate from other events and is allocated $46,000. This is an increase from last year’s $45,860.

The programming budget has been divided into three categories based on size and prominence, rather than its typical four category format, Hilgenberg said.

Hilgenberg said the change was made to make the budget easier for staff.

Jordan said signature events, which include Welcome Weekend and Family Weekend, cost $75,000.

Major events, or events that happen every year, cost $36,000, said Hilgenberg.

All other events fall into the category of minor events, and the category is allocated $21,000, according to Jordan.

In total, programing costs $132,000, which is an increase from last year’s $129,000.

Senator Emma Garner spoke in favor of the UB’s budget and said the events are important.

“These are the events that students get to see Eastern students go to and put on at the university, and it can pull people here and show them that we do have a student body and we do fun things,” she said. “I think that this budget is good.”

The second largest proposed budget is for the Office of Leadership and Engagement at $70,200.

The budget is an increase from the $25,000 budgeted last year. Office of Leadership and Engagement Associate Director Crystal Brown said the increase is due to the cost of graduate assistant stipends moving from the UB and Student Government budget to the OLE budget.

“The reason we’re trying to move all the grad stipends to one budget line is it just cleans things up for us on the back end,” Brown said.

According to the budget, there will be funds for six graduate assistants with the stipend being $1,300 per month over nine months.

All other events and programming will come from other sources outside the OLE budget, including the university’s appropriated budget, SGA budget and the fraternity and sorority life program.

The SGA proposed budget is $57,000, a decrease from last year’s budget of $66,218.

Student Body President Claire Weber presented on the budget.

Weber said committee budgets will remain the same at $4,000, giving each of the eight committees $500.

The allocation for senator semester stipends is $10,000, a $2,000 increase from last year. Weber said the increase is to account for the higher number of senators.

The funds allocated for stipends for other internal positions, including graphic designer and secretary, increased from $2,100 to $2,500.

The budget for the speaker and executives remains the same at $7,500, which is split among the five offices to be $1,500 each.

The budget category for GA, speaker and executive stipends is allocated $22,500, which is down from the previous year’s $32,895 due to the cost of a GA going to the OLE.

Weber said that in the proposed budgets, the cost of the GA is now coming out of the Office of Leadership and Engagement’s budget, though the GA will still be working with the SGA.

According to the budget for SGA events, Pantherpalooza costs remain at $1,000, while First Night increased from $1,873 to $2,000.

Operation EIU Votes was previously in the OLE budget but moved to the SGA budget, costing $2,000.

$5,500 has been allocated for miscellaneous costs.

The total of all three budgets combined is $13,810 higher than that of last year’s combined total.

All budgets were tabled and will be voted on at the next SGA meeting on Feb. 11.

Jason Coulombe can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].