Stacy Omosa, Student Association’s comptroller, hopes to use her position to increase the transparency of SA’s budget and provide financial support to student organizations.

Omosa was elected as comptroller in April after running a campaign based on a three-part message: transparency, support and compassion. Information on SA finances hasn’t been accessible to students at Syracuse University, she said.

“A lot of students didn’t know how much money we had (last year), how much money they should have requested, or what was in the finance codes,” Omosa told The Daily Orange.

Omosa plans to send out email updates with SA’s expenditures to registered student organizations on a regular basis. She will also work with SA’s director of technology, Netania Kligerman, to streamline the finance section of the organization’s website, Omosa said.

 The comptroller acts as the chief financial officer of SA, managing the organization’s budget and approving all spending measures. Registered student organizations at the university can apply for funding from SA.

Omosa said she hopes that SA can help clarify the application process by providing clearer guidelines for student organizations looking to request funding.

 “This is information that has been given to the public regularly over the years if people came to the SA meetings,” Omosa said. “Most people don’t come to the SA meetings, so they don’t know that this information is out there.” 

In an effort to support student organizations, Omosa plans to pair them with a Finance Board adviser, she said. The board is made up of eight SA members who can assist and advise the comptroller with their duties. As advisers, the board members would provide advice and help with any budget-related questions, Omosa said.

Omosa also wants to provide financial backing for developing student organizations that have previously struggled to receive SA funding. Specifically, she aims to devote a portion of rollover funds toward a special budget meant to finance smaller registered student organizations hoping to expand, Omosa said.

“A lot of our smaller RSOs do a lot on campus, especially minority organizations,” Omosa said. “So it would be something to give back to (them).”

Rollover is a special budgetary fund that is made up of excess funds from the previous year that are made available when student organizations cancel their events. Last year, SA President Ghufran Salih and Vice President Kyle Rosenblum used rollover to fund its “Cuse Can! It Starts With Us” event — a $242,000 project. Several SA cabinet members said at the time that they were frustrated in part because they were not consulted in the planning of the event.

The organization’s comptroller last year did not have an equal say in the allocation of SA’s funds, Omosa said.

“If you’re going to make decisions on money, you need to consult the comptroller,” Omosa said. “It makes no sense to have people who didn’t run on finance … make decisions on such a large amount of money.”

 Omosa said SA President Mackenzie Mertikas, Vice President Sameeha Saied and herself are in agreement about rollover.

“We know that if any decisions are going to be made, they are going to be made by all three of us equally,” she said.

Published on September 4, 2019 at 11:10 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu