TO: Services and Activities Fee Committee FROM: Jamie Tobias Neely, adviser for The Easterner DATE: 2/5/13 SUBJECT: Request for Services and Activities Funding for the 2013-2014 School Year The following questions should be answered in narrative format and submitted along with the S&A Excel spreadsheet to the Services and Activities Fee Committee by February 5, 2013. You may EMAIL them to mmunson@ewu.edu or deliver them in hard copy to the Student Accounting Office in SHW 125. These questions will provide the basic information necessary for the S&A Committee to evaluate the request for funding. All questions should be answered to the best of your ability and as completely as possible. Please answer each question individually. Programs may also submit an additional narrative outlining their proposal as well as any materials that will assist the Committee in its deliberations. Budget Questions 1. Please provide an explanation of how the program plans to spend the budget in each line item of the Budget Request Form (Excel spreadsheet), including an explanation of increases or decreases from the previous year s request. Items that are vague, such as contract services should be clearly explained. The Easterner request for Services and Activities funding for the 2013-2014 school year totals $153,000. The budget amounts below reflect an additional $40,000 that The Easterner expects to earn from advertising sales and a $25,000 carry forward from the 2012-13 school year. Compensation (provide explanation for each type): $120,000 This compensation pays for salaries for approximately 35 part-time student employees. They produce and edit the print and online content of The Easterner and handle advertising sales. This level of staffing provides adequate coverage of the campus community, a variety of strong learning opportunities for students and the chance to develop innovative online and multimedia coverage of the news. Page 1
Personal Service Contracts: $3,000 These personal service contracts will be paid to professionals who can provide advice and training in specialized areas. Other Contract Services: $40,000 This amount covers the cost of printing 30 issues of the weekly print paper throughout the school year. Travel: $20,000 Travel funds are used for sending top editors to a summer journalism workshop at the University of Minnesota and staff editors and reporters to two or more national or regional student journalism conferences during the school year. These events provide significant training, networking and recognition for the newsroom. Supplies: $5,000 As we continue to upgrade and innovate the newsroom to match industry trends, our needs for books, videos and other supplies will continue. Equipment: $10,000 These funds will help replace out-dated computer, video or photo equipment and make upgrades as necessary to stay current in the journalism industry. Other: $20,000 This category includes $5,000 for phone, postage, repairs, promotional items and other business costs not covered in previous categories. It also includes a reserve fund of $15,000. This reserve will provide adequate funding for unforeseen circumstances, such as a major equipment need, website needs or an advertising revenue shortfall. 2. How many students utilize the services and activities provided by your program? Describe how statistics are obtained and provide demographics on graduate, undergraduate, male, female or other categories you believe important and relevant to your unit. Our services are available to students, staff, faculty and administration at the Cheney, Riverpoint and Bellevue campuses. We have a paper circulation of 3,000 and a website that has had about 5,000 page views per month. These readers receive news and information related to the Eastern Washington University campus community. We serve the campus with news and information relevant to this community. We provide a chronicle of campus life. The Easterner provides a forum for community members to discuss and debate ideas of significance to this campus. It raises topics that have the potential to positively influence the campus and promote the common good. The Easterner serves as a watchdog that alerts the campus when a problem needs to be fixed. The Easterner gives campus groups coverage of their events and offers an avenue for students to express themselves through letters to the editors, submitted stories and photos, Page 2
and suggestions or story ideas. The Easterner also provides a journalism learning laboratory where the next generation of journalists can not only study the role of journalism but actually practice it in a real newsroom. We provide opportunities for job shadowing and reporting experience for budding writers and hands-on journalism experience for writers, editors, page designers, copy editors, photographers, graphic artists, multimedia editors and advertising representatives. 3. Does your program provide employment opportunities for students? Please explain the nature of student employment within your unit, including total FTE and number of students employed. We presently employ 32 students. We are a student-run newspaper. All of the writing, editing, management, layout, distribution, advertisements and art (photos, graphics and cartoons) is performed by students. 4. How do you gauge the effectiveness of the services and activities you provide to students? Is student input collected and used in this process? If your unit has an advisory committee, in what capacity is it involved in your budgeting process? The Easterner has been nationally recognized frequently in the recent years, placing in the Top Ten Best of Show in the category for four-year, weekly student newspapers. This recognition occurred at the National Journalism Convention of the Associated Collegiate Press in Los Angeles in March 2011, at the National College Media Convention of the Associated Collegiate Press and the College Media Association in Orlando, Fla., in October 2011 and at the National College Media Convention of the ACP and CMA in Chicago in October 2012. At the Chicago convention, the newspaper s online site was also named to the top ten best of show. The staff distributes 3,000 newspapers weekly. The website has about 5,000 page views monthly. The Board of Student Publications, which was established by the university Board of Trustees, works with the editor and business manager to establish budgets and financial business goals of the newspaper. The bylaws for the student newspaper directs the Board of Student Publications to annually submit a budget to the S&A fee committee detailing the S&A fees required to support The Easterner. The EWU Board of Trustees directs the S&A Fee Committee to allocate adequate S&A fees to The Easterner, taking into account the policies expressed in the statement of policy and the need to maintain for the benefit of the EWU community a consistently high-quality student newspaper. The Board of Trustees retains the final authority concerning allocation of S&A fees to The Easterner in the event agreement cannot be reached between the Board of Student Publications and the S&A Fee Committee. In addition, the Board of Student Publications hires both the editor-in-chief and the advertising manager of The Easterner and sets general policies concerning The Easterner. Page 3
5. How do you ensure that student fees do not subsidize non-student uses? If previous requests have included statistical analysis on this point, please provide similar analysis using this year s demographics. As stated above, 100 percent of the salary budget goes to pay student salaries. The student newspaper and its website may be read by anyone, including students, staff, faculty, administration, parents, alumni, the Cheney community and others. That s an appropriate use of the student newspaper and its online site. 6. Have alternative (non-s&a Fee) funding sources been pursued to the fullest possible extent? If yes, please elaborate. To what extent does your unit rely on earned income? How much of that revenue is obtained directly from students? We have an advertising department that we project will generate $40,000 in advertising sales this year. This revenue will be generated from sales to local, regional and national businesses, nonprofit groups, government agencies and universities. This amount varies annually depending on the economy, advertiser interest and staffing issues and therefore can t be precisely predicted. 7. Are there any long-term obligations associated with this funding request? No. There are no long-term obligations associated with this budget request. 8. Was your 2012-2013 S&A Fee allotment increased, decreased or unchanged from the 2011-2012 amount? What was the overall impact on your organization and its ability to serve students? How closely are your actual expenditures aligning with the budget presented to last year s Committee? The 2012-2013 S&A fee allotment was increased from the 2011-2012 budget by $15,662. This allowed The Easterner to offer more learning and employment opportunities to students and to add new multimedia news coverage to match industry standards. The newspaper budget also was increased by advertising revenue and by the carry-forward of student-generated revenue from the previous year. Annually, the Easterner s total budget reflects the uncertainty related to total advertising revenue and the prospect of studentgenerated revenue being carried forward from the previous year. This year s spending has been consistent with The Easterner s budget plan. 9. What is the impact to service to students if your request is not funded or lowered? The community service role of the student newspaper and its website will be hindered if The Easterner has fewer staff members and other resources for covering the campus community. The educational opportunities for students will be limited if fewer students may be hired as student journalists for The Easterner. Page 4
10. What are three new initiatives for future years? a. Support a strong transition to next year s staff that will maintain and enhance the current quality of The Easterner s news coverage. b. Improve training and support for students working on the advertising side of The Easterner. c. Continue to develop a productive multimedia workflow and to improve The Easterner s web presence with more effective workflows and practices. Page 5
Services and Activities Fee Committee 2013-2014 Budget Request Form (Services and Activities Fee Funding Only) Program Name (Budget Number): Easterner (300029) Note: this worksheet is for Services and Activities Fee budget only, if your program receives funding from other sources you must also complete the Total Budget form on the next tab of this worksheet. Services and Activities Fee Budget Request 2010-2011 Budget 2010-2011 Actual 2010-2011 Budget vs. Actual 2011-2012 Budget 2011-2012 Actual 2011-2012 Budget vs. Actual Current Year Budget (2012-2013) 2013-2014 Request Increase/(Decrease) Current Year Request to Prior Year Budget Services and Activities Fee Revenue (510) 137,338 137,338-137,338 137,338-153,000 153,000 - EXPENSES Compensation Classified (631) - - - - - - - - - Administrative Exempt (610) - - - - - - - - - Graduate Student Appointment (624) - - - - - - - - - Temp/Hourly Student Wages (660) 90,000 90,735 735 104,000 105,851 1,851 115,000 120,000 5,000 Taxes and Benefits - - - - - - - - - Total Compensation 90,000 90,735 735 104,000 105,851 1,851 115,000 120,000 5,000 Operations/ Direct Expense(700) Contracts - - - - - - - - - Printing 27,338 30,467 3,129 13,338 11,487 (1,851) 18,000 13,000 (5,000) Travel 20,000 16,136 (3,864) 20,000 20,000-20,000 20,000 - Supplies - - - - - - - - - Equipment - - - - - - - - - Other - - - - - - - - - Total Operations 47,338 46,603 (735) 33,338 31,487 (1,851) 38,000 33,000 (5,000) Total Expenses 137,338 137,338-137,338 137,338-153,000 153,000 - Operating Budget Surplus (Deficit) - - - - - - - - - Unexpended and Returned to S&A Fund - - Instructions: If your program has received S&A funding in the prior year the request that was submitted last year will be sent to you to use as a reference. If this is the first time your program has requested S&A funding the historical information should be left blank. If you need additional information contact Michele at mmunson@ewu.edu If your program only receives funding from S&A the second worksheet (tab labeled "Total Budget Form") does not need to be completed. If your program receives funding from other sources such as earned revenue, state funding, etc you will need to complete the second worksheet (tab labeled "Total Budget Form"). SAF Only Budget Form Page 1
Services and Activities 2013-2014 Total Budget Form - All Sources Combined Program Name (Budget Number): Easterner (300029 & 300191 Combined) Note: If all of the funding for your program comes from Services and Activities Fees this worksheet does not need to be completed Operating Budget Request 2010-2011Budget 2010-2011 Actual 2010-2011 Budget vs. Actual 2011-2012 Budget 2011-2012 Actual 2011-2012 Budget vs. Actual Current Year Budget (2012-2013) 2013-2014 Proposed Budget Increase/(Decrease) from prior year budget REVENUES Earned Income (550) 40,000 37,571 (2,429) 40,000 57,695 17,695 40,000 40,000 - State Support - - - - - - - - - Foundation - - - - - - - - - Other - - - - - - - - - Services and Activities Fee Revenue (510) 137,338 137,338-137,338 137,338-153,000 153,000 - Total Revenue 177,338 174,909 (2,429) 177,338 195,033 17,695 193,000 193,000 - EXPENSES Compensation Classified (631) - - - - - - - - - Administrative Exempt (610) - - - - - - - - - Graduate Student Appointment (624) - - - - - - - - - Temp/Hourly Student Wages (660) 90,000 90,735 735 104,000 105,851 1,851 115,000 120,000 5,000 Taxes and Benefits - - - - - - - - - Total Compensation 90,000 90,735 735 104,000 105,851 1,851 115,000 120,000 5,000 Operations/ Direct Expense(700) Contracts - - - 2,000 2,000-3,000 3,000 - Printing 40,000 42,002 2,002 40,000 31,194 (8,806) 40,000 40,000 - Travel 20,000 16,136 (3,864) 20,000 20,810 810 20,000 20,000 - Supplies 10,000 11,281 1,281 1,338 4,925 3,587 5,000 5,000 - Equipment 17,338 18,032 694 10,000 13,986 3,986 10,000 10,000 - Other/Reserve 32,253 5,963 (26,290) 23,013 1,466 (21,547) 37,814 20,000 (17,814) Total Operations 119,591 93,414 (26,177) 96,351 74,381 (21,970) 115,814 98,000 (17,814) Total Expenses 209,591 184,149 (25,442) 200,351 180,232 (20,119) 230,814 218,000 (12,814) Operating Budget Surplus (Deficit) ############# (9,240) 1 14,801 From FY 2010 to 2011 From FY 2011 to 2012 From FY2012 to 2013 Carry Forward From Prior Year 32,253 23,013 37,814 Instructions: Complete the worksheet at tab "SAF Only Budget Form" before completing this worksheet The information for row 13 "Services and Activities Fee Revenue" is linked to the data on the other worksheet in this workbook and will automatically populate the cells in that row All revenue sources and expenditures for the program that you are submitting a request for should be included on this worksheet so that the S&A Committee can get a clear financial picture of the program. Total Budget Form Page 2