By Derek Froese (Save AfterMath Student Group) – Email
Print Edition: November 21, 2012
You have heard it said that AfterMath is causing SUS to go broke, but I tell you that there is a reasonable solution. A careful analysis of the numbers show that AfterMath is financially viable, and can be run within the funding that SUS already receives without shutting down student services.
Why is AfterMath worth saving?
• AfterMath is the cheapest place to eat on campus. A regular burger and fries is $6 at AfterMath, but $8.18 at the cafeteria.
• Clubs and Associations can hold events at AfterMath for free with reasonable catering costs. It costs $600 to rent the small gym (the only available UFV space larger than a classroom) for one night, and private catering typically costs three to four times as much as AfterMath. Since Clubs and Association events are mostly funded by SUS, these additional costs would be passed on to SUS anyways.
• Keeping AfterMath open from January to March will only cost about $16,000 more than if it was closed prematurely (according to estimates from SUS VP Finance).
• Without AfterMath, UFV is a dry campus.
Why is AfterMath suddenly a problem?
For the 2012-13 SUS budget, an operating budget of $80,000 was allotted to run AfterMath for the whole year. AfterMath has approached that budget ($63,000 as of October 2012). This makes it look like AfterMath is a problem.
However, If we compare AfterMath’s cumulative costs from April until October in this year next to previous years:
• October 2012: AfterMath costs $63,045.83
• October 2011: AfterMath costs $83,674.15
• October 2010: AfterMath costs $105,293
And if we look at how much it cost to run AfterMath in the past for an entire year:
• 2011 $160,944
• 2012 $140,203
Even though AfterMath continues to do better each year, capping its costs at $80,000 was an unrealistic expectation that set it up to fail.
Why is SUS running out of money?
Even though AfterMath is running leaner than it has in the past, SUS claims to be running out of money. Where does that $30 per student you pay every semester go? ($682,900 per year)
• $248,800 administrative costs for the SUS office including staff, benefits, office supplies, etc.
• $143,600 for government costs for the board members including honoraria, cell phones, mileage, retreats.
• $290,500 for student services such as AfterMath, Clubs and Associations, SUS events, conferences for SUS board members, U-Pass setup.
SUS spends 42 per cent of its $682,900 budget on things that directly benefit students. The rest goes to sustaining SUS itself.
What will we have to cut to keep AfterMath open?
Nothing drastic, actually. In fact, things like the events budget, accessibility, athletics and other things mentioned in the November 14 issue of The Cascade need not be changed. Now that we’re partway through the year, the VP Finance of SUS estimates that many budget items are going to come in well under their allotments. This extra room can be given to AfterMath without having to cut any services. Don’t believe it? Come to the SUS General Meeting Second Attempt on November 28 at 9 a.m. in AfterMath to hear how it can be done.
All budget-related numbers come from SUS documents or directly from SUS VP Finance.
