Associated Students Inc. is considering a series of budget cuts to deal with a $360,000 budget deficit created last year by overspending and expenditures in several departments. ASI Executive Director Carol Ackerson and ASI President Jason Bryant have put together a preliminary plan of cuts including the reduction of ASI?s board budget.

One part of the proposal is for the board to take close to a 25 percent cut in one $40,000 account, which would mean cutting the board?s annual conference trip.

“In reality they probably took it harder than anyone else,” Ackerson said.

Other cuts included phasing out of the community garden, the Student Access Center information site on the first floor of the library, and a decrease in support of Peak Adventures by $8,500. Other proposed cuts include postponing the implementation of $10,000 in scholarships.

The most difficult cut for the board to make, according to Bryant, was to the Children?s Center, which will phase out the evening program at the end of the semester. “What we did try to do is not impact anything long term,” Ackerson said.

The Parent Advisory Committee of the Center was consulted on the proposed cuts also, Ackerson said.

According to Ackerson, the deficit was a result of several unforeseen situations.

First, the ASI controller, Scott Taylor, began a four-month long paid vacation in the beginning of the year and then retired. Taylor had accumulated the four months of vacation time over the past eight years as ASI controller. This left ASI understaffed in their accounting department and forced them to hire a temporary and non-budgeted controller to fill the vacant spot.

The Children?s Center, the Aquatic Center and Peak Adventures were the biggest spenders with an accumulated total debt of $280,000. Peak Adventures? deficit was $60,000. The Aquatic Center deficit was $100,000 and the Children?s Center, $120,000.