The Student Government Association (SGA) passed a motion to fund the SGA for $352,660.73 in Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) in their weekly Senate meeting on April 22 in the Campus Center.
The final budget is a decrease of $26,770 from the SGA’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget. The SGA budget for FY27 makes up about 5.7% of the Student Activities Trust Fund, which funds the SGA, Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) and Agencies.
71.2% of the SGA budget is dedicated to mandatory spending, which largely includes the payroll of SGA’s legislative and executive branches. 28.8% of the budget goes toward supplemental spending, such as conduct advisor payroll and funding for the SGA’s Multicultural Night.
The Senate also rejected a budget amendment sponsored by President Michael Borowski to add an additional $18,024.05 for a gala celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Student Union.
Borowski said the primary objective for the event was to empower student groups and feature performances from RSOs. He also viewed the event as a fundraising opportunity for RSOs and the SATF and “to be a hub for student life at UMass.”
However, multiple Senators questioned the event’s planning and necessity given its proposed cost. Chair of the Academic Oversight Committee Cass Melo objected to the amendment, and the Senate entered a parliamentary debate.
“I’m kind of concerned that we’re allocating some money to something that we haven’t completely thought through,” Senator Abigail Fechisso said.
Since the SGA budget had to be finalized in the Senate meeting, Borowski said there was no time to further tweak the event’s budget after the Senate meeting.
Vice President Gianna Naulivou also voiced her opposition to the event after the poor attendance and organization for the recent Multicultural Night on April 6, calling the event “a grave failure.”
“The next administration is the same exact people, and they have yet to prove that they can pull off a large-scale event,” Naulivou said.
In defense of his amendment, Borowski stressed the need for the SGA to be more visible to students and plan campus programming beyond Multicultural Night.
“We had record-low turnout in the latest election,” Borowski said. “We need more people to know where we are, know who we are.”
Borowski also claimed that the UMass SGA organizes less campus programming compared to SGAs at other universities.
Seeking a compromise, Chair of the Undergraduate Registry Oversight Committee Will Hood proposed an amendment to the amendment, changing the event’s budget to $7,224.04 by eliminating the food cost. The event’s planning and cost were still questioned, and both Hood’s amendment and Borowski’s original amendment failed. The proposed $18,024.05 for the event will go back into the SATF.
Joshua Svirsky, chair of the undergraduate services committee, gave a presentation updating Senators on the UMass Locator app. Developed by UMass alumni Carlos A. Elizondo Gomez, the app is a tool for navigation and access to campus services, such as the location of bathrooms and water bottle stations in every building.
According to Svirsky, UMass Locator has about 700 monthly users, and the app’s creator hopes to include the locations of more services, such as elevators and cafés.
The Senate also passed three motions to amend the SGA’s Constitution and General Bylaws, including a motion discussed at the previous Senate meeting that establishes the creation of Registered Student Groups (RSG’s).
Four other motions regarding amendments to the SGA’s Constitution and General Bylaws were read at the meeting and will be voted on at the next SGA meeting on April 29 in the Cape Cod Lounge.
George Coulouras can be reached at [email protected].
