Student Fee Review Committee gets new leader
Gwen Daniels is set to head the Student Fee Review Committee after Seth Botts resigned from the position.
Published Aug. 28, 2008
A committee that audits student fee allocations will be under new leadership this year.
Former Student Fee Review Committee Chairman Seth Botts resigned from his position Aug. 23. Gwen Daniels, Missouri Students Association Budget Committee Senator, will face confirmation for the position from MSA committees, the full MSA Senate and the Graduate Professional Council.
Daniels is also a columnist for The Maneater.
SFRC members review and make recommendations on behalf of the student body to determine how student fees are used. Botts decided to leave the committee because he could not dedicate enough time to it.
"My decision was a personal thing," he said. "It takes up a significant amount of time, and I didn't have 15 to 20 hours a week this year to dedicate to an unpaid position."
After Botts resigned, MSA leaders looked to past applications for a new chairperson.
MSA Senate Speaker Jonathan Mays helped in the process of finding a replacement.
"We try to keep back-ups in mind because (resignations) happen from time-to-time," he said. "She served on the budget committee so she has experience and I have a lot of confidence in her."
Daniels said she is excited for the year ahead.
"I've never done SFRC work, but the work is similar," she said. "We review budget projections from departments and organizations across campus and assess their proposals for budget increases."
One of the differences between her responsibilities in the budget committee last year and serving as chairwoman this year is dealing with money for all organizations, not just MSA. Additionally, SFRC focuses on proposed budget increases and why they are proposed.
"The SFRC process is different than the budget committee process because we don't necessarily go through the items line-by-line," Daniels said.
Daniels said she met with MSA Vice President Chelsea Johnson on Thursday to discuss her new duties and responsibilities. However, she says her position is still in the preliminary stages.
"We will discuss everything and make sure I have a complete understanding before I go before the Senate," Daniels said. "I'm really excited and I'm not anticipating any problems."
But Botts said he believes Daniels will face some obstacles this year because of her inexperience.
"She wasn't involved last year; they don't have much experience left (on the committee,)" he said. "She has a tough job ahead of her, but if she needs any help, I can help, and she'll be fine if she can talk to Chelsea Johnson. (Daniels) is smart and she knows what's going on."
After working on the budget committee last year and the opportunity for the SFRC post this year, Daniels said she has an appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes at MU.
"I really enjoyed the budget process and it really helped me know what was going on at school and see some things that I didn't know happened or activities I didn't know MU offered," she said. "I'm excited to see what happens behind the scenes on a larger, grander scale. The decisions that happen here will get me more familiar with inner workings and I love doing that."