Hey there Engineers! Hope everyone is doing great. This issue, I would like to share some information about something you may not know much about, or may be wondering about. As you probably noticed, each term on your statement of fees on Quest, there is a fee called ENG Student Society, which is currently $14.72.
This fee is paid by every undergraduate engineering student who is in school (about 3700 this term). From these fees, it is the job of the VP-Finance to create a termly budget allocating these funds for the Engineering Society and its operations, which is approved by the Engineering Society Council at the start of the term. If you frequently read the Iron Warrior, you might have seen the budget for this term in a past issue.
So, what exactly does your $14.72 Engineering Society fee get you? The answer is, quite a lot. The majority of the fees go towards fixed costs associated with running the EngSoc Office, and our other facilities like POETS. This part of the budget allows us to offer all of the things we do in the EngSoc Office, like cheap report binding, photocopying, free staples (lots of free staples), and some of the other things that are commonly used. It also helps to pay the salary of our employees, who work very hard to keep everything running within the society, including all of our finances, the EngSoc Office, and the Coffee and Donut Shop (CnD). Without their work, we would be hard pressed to offer all that we do.
On top of our fixed costs, a large percentage of the budget is allocated towards specific funds. Each term, 15% of the student fees, capped at different amounts depending on the term, are allocated towards Engineering Society Sponsorship. The purpose of this fund is to sponsor the activities of student teams and other groups on campus, and help them with all of their initiatives. Another fund is the Engineering Capital Improvements Fund (ECIF), which receives 15% in the Fall, and 5% in the Winter and Spring. This money goes towards capital purchases that improve our facilities around campus, such as POETS upgrades, and outdoor furniture. Finally, each term 1% of the student fees goes towards funding the Iron Warrior (woohoo!).
The rest of the budget (which is typically between 25% and 30% of the student fees depending on the term) goes towards funding all of our Engineering Society services and events. This allows us to run things like resume critiques, interview skills, Mental Health Awareness days, semi-formal, TalEng (the engineering talent show), Genius Bowl, and other events throughout the term. This covers everything from venue costs, printing costs, volunteer appreciation, to other event related expenses. Directors, who are the people who run all of our services and events, request funds each term to cover their costs, and it is up to the VP-Finance to allocate money to them.
All of that sums up to make our termly budget. This budget is what allows the Engineering Society to run all of the things that it does on a term by term basis. $14.72 may not seem like it gets you much, but if you think about all of the services that the Engineering Society has to offer you, it really does contribute to a lot. If you have any more questions about how the budget works, I encourage you to come and ask me, or send an email to vpfinance.a@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca, I am always happy to answer. Good luck with school, and see you next issue!
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