Students will be asked in the April election if they want Associated Students Inc. to hire a grants manager who would be responsible for raising more revenue for campus programs.The role of the grants manager would be to assist ASI in securing grants that would increase revenue for ASI’s internal programs, such as the Children’s Center, the Aquatic Center and Peak Adventures.

James Shelby II, vice president of finance, introduced the ballot measure.The measure will ask students if $60,000 from the ASI budget can be redirected to hire and support the grants manager.

The $60,000 would be drawn from a larger pool of $283,000, a surplus generated by a student fee increase in 1997.

Shelby said part of the $60,000 would go toward the salary for the grants manager position and part would be used for general support for the new position.

Some managers of ASI programs are not entirely convinced about the proposal.At the March 16 ASI board meeting, program managers appeared before the board to discuss the pros and cons of the ballot measure.

Some wondered if the $60,000 could be better spent by supporting ASI’s internal programs directly, instead of going to a grants manager.

Jael Young, director of Peak Adventures, told the board that a grant manager is not a bad idea, but wondered if the money could go toward student employee wages.

“ASI managers are very weary in not being able to pay students more than minimum wage,” Young told the board. “We love our jobs, but wouldn’t it be great to lift the burden a bit?”

Heather Dunn Carlton, the student affairs designee on ASI’s board, wondered if a single grants manager could know what’s best for all the different ASI ventures.

“I think trying to get one individual to have expertise in all these different areas is stretching it a bit,” Dunn Carlton said.

Teri Mahan, director of the Children’s Center, agreed with Dunn Carlton’s assessment that expertise is needed when deciding what grants would be the best for certain programs.

Shelby said that expertise wouldn’t be a problem because the grants manager would “work in concert” with the ASI managers by getting the facts and feedback from them.

“In business there are no guarantees,” Shelby said. “There’s risk, but I feel the reward can be exponential.”

ASI President Josh Wood and Vice President of Academic Affairs Luke Wood both support the ballot measure.

“The bigger risk is we don’t do anything and we run into budget deficits every single year,” Josh Wood said. “This creates more revenues.”

ASI Executive Director Patricia Worley sympathized with ASI’s program managers, but added that she supports the measure because it would help in the long run.

“Internal programs do have unmet needs, but I think people are overlooking that this brings in revenues,” Worley said. “I think the proposal will be helpful to the organization.”

The ballot measure will also ask students to direct the remaining funds from the $283,000 surplus to fund student employment, ASI’s contract with Regional Transit and a scholarship fund.

One hundred thousand dollars would go toward renewal of the Regional Transit Free Ridership Contract, which allows students to ride public transportation for free. The contract is set to expire in 2006.

One hundred twenty thousand dollars would go toward the campus work program, the same amount that currently supports this program.

The remaining $3,000 would go toward offering a scholarship to the homecoming king and queen, in an attempt to get more students involved in homecoming activities.

Greg Hyatt can be reached at [email protected]