Questions about the Graduate Student Association's partnership with Sub-Board I, Inc. were answered last week when the new GSA executive board accepted the SBI accounting and services contracts for the 2002-03 school year.
According to Vice President Shiju David, GSA's new executive board signed the accounting contract with SBI at the Oct. 2 senate meeting but waited about a week thereafter before signing the services contract, allowing them time to explore alternate accounting options.
SBI President Lars Hansen said the hesitation in accepting the contracts came as a result of a letter written by former GSA President Janine Santiago, calling for negotiations on the basis that only a small number of graduate students use most of the SBI services.
David said that while undergraduates use certain services more frequently, graduate students still use much of what SBI offers, including the pharmacy and group legal services.
The executive board understood that if GSA did not return to SBI, the availability of certain student services, such as the Anti-Rape Task Force and the university's medical insurance, could be in jeopardy, said David.
According to GSA Treasurer Amol Salunkhe, part of the problems that emerged between GSA and SBI in the past resulted from the fact that most people look at undergraduate students and graduate students as two separate groups; instead, he said, they should be seen simply as UB students.
"Sub-Board is an organization for the students to be used by the students; divisions between graduate students and undergraduate students is not fair," said Salunkhe. "A more panoramic view should be taken."
The executive board considered doing their accounting with other campus organizations, such as the UB Foundation or the Faculty Student Association. According to David, however, none of these alternatives were cost-effective.
"It was not in a moment that we made this decision," David said. "After great deliberation, we decided this was the way to tackle this issue."
Before the executive board signed the contract, they requested SBI lower the mandatory amount of GSA funds collected, said David.
GSA currently pays SBI $6.25 per graduate student and last year's contract required the student government to contribute no less that $69,000. This year's proposed contract called for a minimum of $80,000.
After deliberations between GSA and SBI were complete, the contract was revised and the cap tentatively stands at $74,400, said David.
According to Salunkhe, the cap will be refigured again once the exact number of graduate students enrolled, and the amount that enrollment has increased, is accurately determined.
Salunkhe said that the cap is SBI's way of assuring a minimum amount of money from graduate students for the use of their services.
Hansen said he was impressed with the new executive board's prompt and rational handling of the matter and expects no further complications regarding this issue.
"It's been pretty smooth," said Hansen. "There doesn't seem like there's going to be any problems for the rest of the year."
