Friday, March 11th, 2011
The Student Union denied a rumor spreading across campus that their budget for the Spring semester had been set at EGP 1,200,000.
Shehab Ahmed, the SU Vice-President for Financial Affairs, commented, “it is not true that the SU has this huge number in its account.”
Ahmed told The Caravan the SU is not suffering from a financial crisis, as its budget can cover the necessary expenses of this semester’s academic and developmental activities.
The SU’s finances have been in spotlight since last semester, particularly due to how its share of student fees has largely increased while their activities have decreased.
Ahmed Nafei, former SU treasurer, said that the student body began receiving EGP 400,000 more than their previous budget after former SU president Omar Kandil’s administration successfully negotiated the increase.
“The SU’s share of the student fees that they took from the university’s administration before the year 2009-2010 was around EGP 120,000 but because of the effort Omar Kandil’s crew and their negotiations with the administrations, the amount has been increased to EGP 520,000.”
The SU started receiving this amount by Fall 2010, during Hesham Shafik’s presidency.
However, the student body expects its budget to decrease due to the current political and economic unrest in Egypt.
Pepsi and Mobinil, SU’s main sponsors who provided a sum of EGP 60,000 per semester, have failed to deliver the amount this semester. Additionally, the withdrawal of many of the foreign exchange students will have an adverse effect on the amount they will receive from the students’ fees.
“We are not sure yet how much is the administration allocating for the SU this semester,” Ahmed said. “They promise we will be paid by the end of March.”
He added that if it were not for the current circumstances in Egypt, the SU would have had the amount it is rumored to have.
In the meantime, the SU is spending from the funds it has in its account from previous semesters, and borrowing some amounts from the Office of Student Development (OSD).
The SU told The Caravan that they promise to “do their best” to help any club suffering from financial problems.
“We have already helped many clubs this semester and we are willing to help others as much as we can do,” Ahmed said.
