The resignations of both President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of ASCMC this summer set the stage for a busy semester ahead for the remaining members of Executive Board. Under new President Maya Love ‘20, ASCMC has already hosted a successful club fair, implemented a new reimbursement system and hosted elections to fill the open positions.
ASCMC held fall elections for the new Executive Vice President (EVP) and Dormitory Affairs Chair (DAC) in addition to the regular race for First Year Class President, Tuesday. Both the EVP and DAC candidates ran unopposed, and Maxwell Knowles ‘20 and Joshua Rodriguez ‘21 were elected to the positions, respectively. Out of the five first-years, Cindy Lay ‘22 was elected as First Year Class President. Event Commissioner and CFO applications are in and will be appointed soon.
Executive Board approved the budget for 2018 fiscal year this week, and already funded The Forum’s request to cover website and snack costs. Most of ASCMC’s revenue comes from the $245 each student pays in student fees, totalling to around $313,000. About 70 percent of the budget is allocated for campus organizations and student activities. To access that money, students will have to go through a new reimbursement system, Workday.
Treasurer and Acting CFO Maxwell Dawson ’21 introduced Workday at Senate last week, saying it aims to achieve three important goals for the reimbursement process: improved efficiency, increased transparency and ease of reporting. Dawson and other members of ASCMC spent the summer working with DOS to ensure a smooth transition from the previous platform, FluidReview. In terms of efficiency, Workday makes it easier for not only ASCMC officers to approve reimbursements, but also for students to submit them in a timely manner, Dawson said.
“We’re optimistic that once the transition is fully completed we’ll getting reimbursements out within 2-3 weeks as opposed to last year, when it sometimes took a few months,” Dawson said. “Rather than issue checks, Workday allows us to deposit reimbursement funds directly into a student’s bank account if they have direct deposit set up, which will expedite that process even further.”
In order to increase transparency, Workday allows ASCMC to add more levels of approval, including a few at the CMC and The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS) level. While a reimbursement was previously checked by three people in ASCMC, it’ll now be checked by up to seven. “We’re optimistic this will eliminate the holes in our previous process,” Dawson said.
Workday’s new reporting feature will improve all aspects of ASCMC’s budgeting process by making it easier for clubs and organizations to check their balances. In previous years, the inefficiency of budget reporting and distributions of funds has been a recurring issue for many on-campus organizations. According to Dawson, with the new system, clubs, dorms, officers and all other groups affiliated with ASCMC will now be able to check their balance at any time. This convenient add-on will eliminate the use of club ledgers and inquiries about how much money a campus organization actually has.
Dawson and other ASCMC members are confident in Workday’s ability to effectively provide both ASCMC and the CMC student body with an improved, hassle-free reimbursement procedure. Moving forward, ASCMC hopes to improve its overall financial structure by processing reimbursements more efficiently and encouraging officers to review finances in closer detail.