ASMSU faces scholarship funding decision
By: Zane McMillin
ASMSU is looking into various ways to fund a leadership scholarship after finding its plans to partially fund the program with MSU endowment money would limit control on who receives the award.
The Spartan Scholarship Challenge, which matches $1 for every $2 spent on creating new endowed scholarships, was announced in late October by MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon after the university received an anonymous $10 million gift last spring. About $7 million of the donation was earmarked for scholarship creation.
ASMSU’s leadership scholarship was proposed in early October and was designed to award an unspecified amount of money to need-based students seeking to take a more active role in campus leadership activities.
ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.
The group’s Student Assembly originally planned to pass a bill Nov. 5 calling for the scholarship’s creation, but last-minute information revealed that under MSU’s program, the group might not be able to manage stipulations for awarding the scholarship.
The bill was referred to the assembly’s Finance Committee, which will rework certain parts of its language at a Dec. 3 meeting before sending it back to the full assembly, Committee Chairperson Gonzalo Martinez said.
“We’re still trying to figure out exactly what direction we’re trying to go,” Martinez said.
The original scholarship creation bill called for the organization to commit $66,000 of its own money for the scholarship, which would mean $33,000 contributed from the university for a total of $99,000. The bill also calls on the organization to create an ASMSU Alumni Foundation in hopes of raising $99,000 more to fund the scholarship.
Martinez said the group is not opposed to MSU’s involvement in managing and deciding particulars of the scholarship. However, he said the group was told there are predetermined criteria for using the Spartan Scholarship Challenge’s funds that might negate ASMSU’s original intentions of including a leadership aspect.
“We’re still not sure if the leadership aspect is totally ruled out with the Spartan Challenge,” Martinez said.
Student Assembly Chairperson Kyle Dysarz said it is too early for anything definitive to be known about changes to the bill. He did not say whether the original monetary figures would change as a result of reworking the language.
“It’s an ongoing conversation,” Dysarz said.
The original bill gave the committee until June 13, the end of ASMSU’s fiscal year, to work with the organization’s comptroller to devise where to come up with funding for the scholarship.
Preliminary discussions from the committee suggest the representatives are uneasy at the idea of having the university involved in deciding provisions for the scholarship. At a meeting Thursday, committee members generally agreed it would be better for ASMSU to be able to create criteria for the scholarship and decide its recipients.
“I would just rather have something that we actually have control over rather than leaving it up to the university,” said Igor Shleypak, who represents James Madison College on the assembly, at the meeting. “We’re putting in a majority of the money.”
Echoing sentiments expressed at the meeting, ASMSU spokesperson Portia McKenzie said the organization wants to be involved in the selection process.
“ASMSU would like to have a hand in the selection process to assure that the most qualified student in need of the additional funds receives it,” she said.
11/17/09 @ 2:24am
nice informative article, I am impressed!
11/17/09 @ 2:28am
Once again ASMSU doesn’t deliver. I mean, at least we’re seeing some progress in terms of creating the scholarship.
I am very dissatisfied in that ASMSU wants to be involved in choosing who gets the scholarship. You would think that the University would want to protect the student body by helping out those who need it the most. Still, ASMSU doesn’t want to give it to those who need it the most but to those who they think deserve it. On the other hand, they said that they want to create a need-based scholarship. So, they want to give the scholarship to the student who deserves it the most and is more qualified? That sounds reasonable.
But the thing is that students would have to apply and ASMSU would have to advertise it, and we all know that ASMSU is not good at all in communications.
If ASMSU wanted to just do good they would give the money to the University right away so it can help and save a student now, instead of a year from now when probably that student who needed it had to drop out because the money wasn’t there.
I, sincerely, appreciate what ASMSU is trying to do, but they have to forget about trying to be prominent in doing this and just give the money to the University. In the way ASMSU wants to do it students would have to approach ASMSU. If they give the money to the University, the University itself approaches the students in need. After all, students with good grades get scholarships from the University anyways. This is about helping those first-generation and/or low income students that are struggling financially and need the money right away or they will have to drop out from school.
This is not the moment to pass judgment on who’s more deserving of staying in school or not based on academics, but about keeping those would have to stop educating themselves for the worst reasons of all: due to lack of financial resources.
I would like to know when the next meeting regarding this matter will be?
11/17/09 @ 8:49am
ASMSU ALREADY offers over $36,000 per year for the need based RESPECT scholarship, totaling over half a million dollars thus far. The University gives that away without ASMSU selecting the awardees. Unfortunately, this arrangement has been shown to mean that essentially MSU takes credit for the scholarship and students such as yourself have no idea ASMSU is providing it.
11/17/09 @ 10:00am
Well, that’s the point. The reason of giving money to the University is to make it more powerful through the increase of resources. People give money to MSU to increase its endowment and to reduce its level of reliability on other funds, like state funding, that are not consistent over time.
It is very ignorant from ASMSU to not continue giving money to MSU for scholarships because, simply, it is not getting enough credit for those donations. In fact, it is even more ignorant that these students are thinking that way since it is not even their money.
Through the student tax students contribute more than $500 thousand for ASMSU. When money is being spent on retreats and hotels and less than $40 thousand are being used to save students from leaving their education, it is ridiculous and insulting on behalf of these students in ASMSU.
The reason why ASMSU exists is to protect, serve and assist students. If ASMSU doesn’t protect students from the most basic risk of financial instability putting them at risk of having to leave MSU, then ASMSU is worthless.
Once again, I would like to know when the next ASMSU meeting will be and when they will be discussing this topic again?
11/17/09 @ 10:01am
Ridiculous. I’m sure you’re one of the first people to jump on the bandwagon when ASMSU is getting torn into by the State News. Yet here they are, doing something noteworthy, and they get crap about it! I am so sick of the crap they recieve. They do so much for this school, and the University gets credit for all of it, and they get left with they blame when something goes wrong. You all should be ashamed. If you think they are doing such a bad job, you should just get involved yourself.
11/17/09 @ 10:24am
You’re wrong.
The State News is not right every time. Actually, it is wrong most of the times since these journalism students want to create sensationalism in their stories.
On the other hand, even though they sometimes make biased articles, they do expose some realities.
One of those realities is the lack of receptivity, innovation and action from ASMSU. We all know that, currently, the student organization that is supposed to represent the undergraduate student body at MSU is nothing more than a bureaucratic beast used by some students as a source of income and to use our money to bring their favorite artists to campus.
I am not saying that they steal money because I don’t know that (Actually, there was an article about a student who got paid but didn’t fulfill the office hours requirements since she was not in Michigan. But, I guess, that’s another story). The point is that ASMSU is not proactive in their ideas and actions nor efficient in how they use the budget, which includes over $500 thousand from student taxes.
At least The State News innovates, has received awards for journalism quality, etc. On the other hand, ASMSU has stay the same over the years. The best intent to reach students? Website, and its obsolete.
If ASMSU really wants to solve their issues about getting credit and all of that arrogance, the solution is simple: communications. When you solve the way you communicate with others you change the perception others have from you.
Still, ASMSU deserves all the blame it can get for this stupidity and holding money away from the students just to get credit. Maybe they can print money with ASMSU’s logo in the middle so the students know where it came from.
Not helping students financially is ridiculous and irresponsible.
11/17/09 @ 10:47am
“The original scholarship creation bill called for the organization to commit $66,000 of its own money for the scholarship”
I may be missing something, but where does ASMSU get its money? Isn’t it from student “contributions” (taxes)? Are the taxpaying students happy about part of their student tax dollars funding a scholarship when they themselves are struggling to deal with their own college bills?
If ASMSU wants to participate in a scholarship, let them create the ASMSU Foundation for outside funding as the article mentions.
And, if they want to control the terms of the scholarship award, set it up without matching dollars from the Scholarship Challenge. They should know that with money comes loss of control. Just ask the banks and automakers.
11/17/09 @ 10:59am
Student:
I dont know where in the world you’re getting the idea that ASMSU is going to “withhold funding” for the Respect Scholarship because it doesnt get recognition. No one ever said that and thats 100% untrue.
This is exactly the sort of problem where people who have absolutely no idea or only a sliver of information reach broad and overgeneralized assumptions based upon half-truth reporting and misconceptions. It’s no wonder that you have a bad view of ASMSU if you actually believed they’d take funds away b/c they didnt get credit. Never mind that the very notion is completely off-base and utterly false.
11/17/09 @ 11:35am
I never said anything about the Respect Scholarship. I’ve been referring to the most recent scholarship, the one discussed in this article.
11/17/09 @ 12:18pm
“It is very ignorant from ASMSU to not continue giving money to MSU for scholarships because, simply, it is not getting enough credit for those donations.”
The only scholarship this applies to is the Respect Scholarship. The other one hasn’t ever been finalized so funds cannot be discontinued.
Even if you were talking about the new one, no one said they’d not go forward, they just want to make sure they do it the right way.
11/17/09 @ 5:35pm
The problem here is that ASMSU wants credit for something they don’t do because the life of ASMSU, the $500 thousand, are given by students. So, stop being selfish and just donate the money. If what ASMSU wants is credit, then improve the communications and advertising but don’t hold money and make a process longer for technicalities that will not save a student from not dropping out of school.
ASMSU is great in deviating issues and arguments.
11/18/09 @ 12:25am
student, if you are just one person, you are making some stupid, ridiculous claims. You want ASMSU to donate the money now, but 1 it is not that simple i would assume and 2 it would not matter how fast they donate the money bec. the scholarships would not go into effect until next year anyways.
State news- band STUDENT for his stupid and recidivous claims!
11/18/09 @ 10:56am
You can’t even spell.
You want them to BAND him??? Do you think he is a lobster? Or should we look at this from a birdwatching perspective, and assume that you want to put a metal ring around his leg in order to identify him in the future?
Haha.
11/18/09 @ 1:16pm
SOMEONE WHO THINKS “STUDENT” IS STUPID:
Your post is by itself miserable. Now, I just want to clarify some things.
1. The reason that you give for that donating the money is not that simple is in itself an ASMSU issue. By this I mean that it is ASMSU’s bureaucracy the one that presents the problem, not the goal of donating the money for scholarship.
2. By “now” I mean short term, not necessarily this instant. Short term is before the next academic year.
3. Don’t deviate attention from what is my primary and very good point here: ASMSU prefers to get credit for something than to do it. That attitude is evident in the article and in the previous posts.
It appears to me that ASMSU is not informed about the huge cuts to education and scholarships that have students today, at MSU and everywhere, accumulating incredible debt as a result of taking out student loans. Tuition is rising as a consequence of decreasing state support. Maybe ASMSU students don’t suffer this as intense as the average student since they are collecting their paychecks.
The arrogance showcased by ASMSU by wanting to get credit for doing something with resources that aren’t theirs deserves a front page article in The State News so students at MSU learn what our “student representatives” are all about. Today, ASMSU represents an organization that, besides giving salaried positions, it doesn’t care about the well being of undergrad students at MSU.
Around $30 thousand a year is not nearly acceptable considering that that’s less than $1 per undergrad student invested on scholarships by ASMSU, even though the student body provides ASMSU with over $150 thousand every year.
Once again, what are we really paying for as undergrad students? Who needs events, yearbooks or legal counsel when Spartans can’t even pay for MSU? I am not saying that ASMSU is to blame for all the students leaving MSU, but they are to blame for their lack of action, interest and support.
Students didn’t say no when ASMSU asked for more funding. On the other hand, ASMSU is saying no to students that can’t afford to get an MSU education.
11/18/09 @ 5:23pm
Actually, last time ASMSU asked students via a campus wide election if they wanted ASMSU to fund more scholarships, the vote was overwhelmingly no. That was back in 2005 or so.
I also note taht ASMSU put on the rally today that the Gov attended and has been lobbying the legislature. So, considering all of that i’d say they are doing something and getting the Gov to come to their event, which got barely any mention in the State News btw, is a great job.
Of course its much easier to simply complain instead of get involved or compliment good work isnt it?
11/18/09 @ 6:30pm
RE above:
1. The activity in which Granholm talked today is part of a tour that Granholm is having throughout colleges in the state of Michigan. ASMSU didn’t do anything special there. In fact, after MSU Granholm went to Grand Valley State and had a very similar activity.
2. You can’t compare the attitude students had on tuition and scholarships in 2005 with the one they have today in 2009. In those days it was less expensive to attend MSU and there was more state funding to higher ed, compared to today. This allowed MSU to focus more on making education more affordable. Also, the Mich Promise was created later in 2006.
3. The reason why I don’t get involved is because ASMSU in itself is not efficient. It is a bureaucratic machine that doesn’t allow things to go through. On the other hand, I am giving constructive criticism for those that are actually part of ASMSU to work on these things. I mean, ASMSU is formed of “elected officials” and you would think that, since it is a democratic organization, ASMSU would be open to reasonable suggestions from the people that pays those students in ASMSU.
4. The fact that many posts here that come from ASMSU appear to hate and criticize suggestions from students and portray a level of arrogance to others, it lets the student body know how ASMSU doesn’t really represent the undergrad students at MSU.
11/18/09 @ 6:32pm
This is the article about Granholm’s tour around colleges in Michigan: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/michigan/news.newsmain/article/7/0/1579004/Education/Governor.to.Campaign.on.College.Campuses.for.‘Promise’.
This is another one from The State News stating the same: http://statenews.com/index.php/article/2009/11/granholm_visits_campus_urges_students_to_fight_for_mich_promise_scholarship
Excerpt: “Following her visit to MSU, Granholm was scheduled to speak at Saginaw Valley State University later in the day. She also is scheduled to address students Thursday at Central Michigan University, Grand Valley State University and Western Michigan University.”
11/18/09 @ 8:38pm
For the record:
1) yes, the governor is touring colleges in the state for the next two weeks, and kicked off that tour at MSU
2) the university administrators agreed to the governor appearing and president simon planned to attend as well
3) neither the governor nor the university planned this event today. the students led by cogs and asmsu organized all of the event; met with the communications staffs of the governor and the university,and ensured that the event didn’t just become a politcal stop over. the most important things to come from today wasn’t that the gov stopped by, but that the majority of the press conference was students speaking about the impact of rising tuition, program cuts, and decreasing aid had on them. these students were not just staff of asmsu, but represented students from across campus, both grad and undergrad.
4) at the close of the conferece cogs and asmsu unveiled challenges to the following groups: students, university and state leadership and committed to working to hold themselves and others accountable for meeting those challenges with regards to engagement, student voice, fiscal responsibility, commitment through action to higher ed in all areas.
Of course, this being the State News, none of that is written. Thankfully we still have a few good news organizations left in this state, so if you’d like the real story of today’s event so that you can draw an unbiased opinion, I suggest you check on gongwer news, free press, detroit news, wilx, and others as they continue to cover the stories that students are putting out there. pity our student newspaper doesn’t actually cover student issues
11/18/09 @ 10:27pm
It’s great that ASMSU had such initiative, but don’t blame The State News for not covering it. After all, there was nothing relevant that ASMSU can present that can actually affect positively or negatively the current budget situation.
What ASMSU has to do, and is capable of doing, is what those students don’t want to do because the University would take credit for something ASMSU did with money from the students. I am sure that if students saw what ASMSU does with the money from the tax, they would either go for the refund or would approve of its use for scholarship purposes.
Also, I just finished checking google news to see articles about Granholm’s visit and, I must say, that they are all the same. They all gave Granholm what she wanted: to appear in headlines and to blame Republicans. Reporters interviewed students that where in the activity but there’s no mention of ASMSU or press conference. It’s obvious that ASMSU fell flat and just did what Granholm wanted: to get good publicity and send a ridiculous message that she cares about the students. She does all this even though she had the power to veto, as she did with other parts of the budget.
This is the same Governor who threatened to cut funding for Michigan Agricultural Extensions, College of Agriculture and others if the services and programs didn’t satisfy her wishes for more “greener” developments. Just like saying that a Harvard educated can order whatever she wants.
So, ASMSU please stop the politics and the public agenda and just focus on executing, not planning or brainstorming, or things like that. You already know what students need. It has never been more clear. So, just do it.