Colin Daily / The Avion
Junior, BS Homeland Security and Intelligence
"My name is John Setford, and I am a junior majoring in Homeland Security and double minoring in Terrorism Studies and Cybersecurity Applications and Management. I am currently serving on the Treasury Board, and I chose to rerun for this position in order to continue my goal of increasing the transparency between the Treasury Board and the RSOs here on campus, as well as making sure that the SGA budget is properly allocated. On the board, I served as one of the Tier 7 Treasury Representatives, and I made sure to help any RSO who came to me during office hours or asked me a question over Discord. Going into next year, I plan to continue on my goals of better transparency and increase the ways that I can become a better Treasury Board member for you."
What makes you a qualified candidate for this position?
"What makes me a qualified candidate is that I am currently on the Treasury Board, so I already know how it should be operated and what the purpose of the Treasury Board is. I have had a year of experience to grow my skills as a board member, and being re-elected will increase my skills even more. I am also the Treasurer for the Interfraternity Council, so I have experience being an RSO Treasurer and can bring that perspective to the Treasury Board meetings. Additionally, I thrive in a team environment, which is extremely important because that is how the Treasury Board gets the most work done. Almost all of the work of the Student Treasury is done during our meetings, and this is done by working together. I have been able to work exceptionally well with the current Treasury Board and will continue to work well if I am elected to the new Treasury Board."
What is the purpose of the Student Treasury?
"The purpose of the Student Treasury is to distribute and allocate the funds generated by the SGA fee. Every semester, the Student Treasury spends one weekend and allocates all of the money generated by the SGA fee to the 200+ RSOs that submit budget packets. Each RSO is split up into 7 different tiers based on their historical performance with the Student Treasury. We, as a board, decided how much money goes into each RSO according to their tier. The Student Treasury also handles appeals, which is when an RSO wants to appeal their budget packet allocation or appeal some of the restricted items on their budget packet. Another big item that the Student Treasury handles is capital expenditures, which RSOs can apply when large and unexpected purchases come up. Each member of the Treasury Board serves as the Treasury Representative for each Tier. For example, I served as the Tier 7 Treasury Representative for the past year. This means that if any Tier 7 organizations had any questions, they would come to me."
How would you define risk management, and how would you relate this skill to your position as Student Treasury Board Member?
"I would define Risk Management as being able to identify, focus, and mitigate risk. While risk is impossible to completely eliminate, being able to manage risk is an essential skill in any business, especially when it comes to the Student Treasury because of the handling of money. When handling money, there should be little to no risk at all because one small mistake can lead to catastrophic consequences. If we, as a Student Treasury, do not successfully manage the risk of giving out too much money to the RSOs, we will fall over budget. I will incorporate risk management into my position as a student treasury board member by making sure that when making allocations, every club meets the requirements needed in order to receive funding from the SGA. I want to eliminate any element of risk or error when it comes to giving RSOs the money that they deserve."
How do you plan to ensure the organizations you represent receive the funding they need without putting others at a disadvantage?
"I plan to ensure that the organizations I represent will receive the funding that they need but not put others at a disadvantage by submitting a completed and thorough budget packet for my organization that will get passed by the other Student Treasury Board Members. You see, many of the members of the Treasury Board are treasurers for another organization. During Allocations, when the time comes to vote on a Treasury Board member’s organization, they must leave the room and are not allowed to vote. This prevents any personal bias from affecting the vote. This is what I will be doing when the time comes for the organization that I am the treasurer of. That way, it will be fair and not put others at a disadvantage. In terms of when discussing the organizations in the tier that I am the Treasury Representative for, I will have to treat each club the same and not give them any special benefits just because I am their tier representative."
