On Nov. 14, Keene State College Student Assembly came together to approve the various elements of the 2019 Fiscal Year (FY19) budget.

They approved the budget increases for Educational Technology, the Student Center and the Parking and Campus Safety Shuttle Services.

All three applied for the maximum increase of 2.5 percent from their allotted budget for FY19.

KSC Chief Information Officer of the Information Technology Group Laura Seraichick asked for a budget increase for Educational Technology.

She requested the increase for new equipment such as wireless projectors for classrooms.

Seraichick said it would be fiscally responsible to update this technology.

The next to present was Director of Student Involvement Jennifer Ferrell, who said the Student Center is asking for an increase in their budget to prevent cutting student work hours for their employees.

Ferrell said in Fiscal Year 2015, the programmatic dollars were $376,000, while in Fiscal Year 2018 that number decreased to $178,000.

To make up for the gap, Ferrell said they pulled from their reserves, but they will not be able to do that for FY19.

Lastly, Director of Campus Safety and Compliance Jeffrey Maher requested a budget increase for only the Parking Services and Campus Safety Shuttle portion of their department.

The current budget for the shuttle doesn’t completely cover the contract with the shuttle company. Maher and Student Assembly discussed how to reevaluate the effectiveness of the campus shuttle program, considering the amount of riders decreased by 40 percent in 2017.

Student Assembly will not meet next week, but will gather again on Nov. 28.

Abby Shepherd can be contacted at ashepherd@kscequinox.com