Students’ Association met virtually Monday, April 5 to work through a packed agenda. Topics included fund sweeping, athletics budgeting, sustainability and campus support options.

Resolutions

The Senate considered passed three resolutions during the Monday night meeting.

Resolution 19-19-R recognized Vice President Michael Adelaine for his service to SDSU. Adelaine announced his retirement from the university in January. Read more about Adelaine here.

“Vice President Michael Adelaine was the first full-time chief information technology officer at South Dakota State University,” the resolution read. “During Vice President Adelaine’s career, he oversaw the arrangement that allowed SDSU to be the first university in the United States to use Hotmail as a pilot program for students.”

Resolution 19-20-R declared the Students’ Association support for composting at the university.

The resolution provides a plan to bring composting to SDSU with a one-time cost of just over $14,000 and continued costs of $3,000 per year. The resolution does not allocate funding to the program, it simply declares support.

Ordinance 19-01-O waives the association’s policy for student organization fund sweeping at the end of the year in an effort to alleviate possible budgeting concerns. This policy comes at a time when all university activities are suspended.

The resolution cites the COVID-19 pandemic as the reasoning for the ordinance.

Athletics

Justin Sell, Michael Holbeck and Matt Maher provided a presentation regarding the athletic department budget and their relationship with SA.

“This is going to need to be continued,” Sell said in regards to the partnership between the two organizations. “Let’s keep this good work going.”

According to data provided during the presentation, SDSU was subsidized at $7,841,412 in FY18. In comparison, the University of South Dakota received $11,161,161 with the other SD BOR institutions receiving subsidies between $1.9 and $2.6 million.

The largest expense for SDSU athletics is employee salary, at 35% of the total budget. Other expenses include administrative support (18%), scholarships (18%), debt services and stadium maintenance and repairs (15%) and sports operations (14%).

The department is funded primarily through athletic revenue (38%) and university support (26%). Student General Activity Fees account for 13% of the athletic budget with SDSU foundation support (16%) and conference revenue (7%) filling the remainder of the budget.

There were 400 of the total 517 student athletes on scholarship during FY18. Also noted during the presentation, the athletic department employs about 227 students.

Sustainability

SDSU earned a silver Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) rating this year. This rating is one up from the bronze rating awarded the previous year, according to Sustainability Coordinator Jennifer McLaughlin.

Wintrode Student Success Center

The Wintrode Student Success Center reported on their online support services, including virtual tutoring, supplemental instruction and academic advising.

During the 2018-2019 school year, Wintrode served over 4,400 students with 41,000 visits.

 “Students who participate in SI (supplemental instruction) earn on average one-half to one full letter grade higher than those that don’t,” according to statistics provided during the meeting.

The Wintrode Student Success Center is working to ensure they can continue support for students, Director of Wintrode Jody Owen said.