The Trinity College Meeting (TCM) — Trinity College’s student government — held its second meeting of the academic year on Monday, October 17, with around 40 people in attendance.
Over the course of an hour, members of the college amended the TCM’s fiscal policy, introduced a constitutional amendment, and approved all but one of the budgets proposed by Trinity’s levied clubs.
The updated fiscal policy, which was presented by the chair of the finance committee Imran Koehnen and approved by attendees, aims to cut unnecessary costs and limit what purchases clubs can reimburse.
“For a long time now, all of the individual clubs had their own bank accounts, and that’s led to a lot of bank account fees each year — about $3,000 or $4,000 in fees, which is just inefficient for our student levies,” said Koehnen. The new policy consolidates funds into one bank account, which is accessible to the finance committee and guaranteed clubs — organizations that receive a fixed amount of TCM-approved money per year.
Other changes include limiting the amount of additional money given to clubs that spend beyond their budget and increasing the amount of funds new clubs can request. The new regulations also prevent clubs from reimbursing cash and gift cards that might be used to buy controlled substances, affirming the college’s policy against using student fees to buy alcohol.
Students also approved a constitutional amendment proposed by Tourang Movahedi, a fourth-year peace, conflict and justice student. However, the amendment must survive a second vote at the subsequent TCM to take force.
Movahedi proposed that the TCM allow students to vote for constitutional amendments online and for a longer period, instead of only in person during the TCM. “[This is] so that more people have the opportunity to vote on [constitutional amendments], especially commuters and resident students who aren’t able to make TCMs regularly,” said Movahedi.
Of the mandates and budgets proposed by Trinity clubs at this TCM, all but one were passed, leaving clubs with a combined $2,287.50 in additional funding. The budget proposed by Trinity Times, a student newspaper focused on the college, was not approved; some students voiced concerns about the $2880 requested to print the publication.
“In the past, you know, we’ve had a lot of these publications, and unfortunately most of them have had to be thrown away,” said neuroscience student Shiva Ivaturi. Trinity Times will present its budget again at the next finance committee meeting, with the hopes of receiving approval.
Despite some students being elected into several positions at the TCM’s previous meeting, some positions remain unfilled — including the heads of the fourth year.
The next TCM will be held on November 28.
