Sponsors: Rese Fox, External Relations Chair, MSA-LSA representative
Charles Adside, Community Service Commission Co-Chair,
MSA-LSA representative
Mike
Forster, External Relations Vice Chair, MSA-LSA representative
Tim
Wiggins, External Relations member, MSA-LSA representative
1 Introduction:
2 PIRG Chapter
Features
3 PIRGIM Pilot
Chapter Program Priorities
4 PIRGIM Pilot
Chapter
5 PIRGIM Budget
and Pilot Chapter Budget
6 Conclusion
Appendix A and
B
1 Introduction:
1.1 Whereas, the mission of the University
of Michigan is to “serve the people of Michigan and the world through
preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art,
and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge
the present and enrich the future.[1]” And,
1.2 Whereas, Student
PIRG chapters foster civic engagement in college students, as students at other
colleges hosting Student PIRG chapters have chosen, designed and implemented
campaigns focusing on student voter participation, renters rights, hunger and
homelessness and more. And,
1.3 Whereas, the
student PIRG program aggressively promotes the application of knowledge to
public interest issues by engaging students, faculty, and other members of the
campus community in direct community service. And,
1.4 Whereas, given
the nature and structure of the PIRG program, there are many “professional”
skills which are learned and practiced by students who participate in the PIRG
internship program and as members of the student Board of Directors by honing
their writing skills producing reports and educational materials; testing
strategies for marketing new ideas and information to the campus, the public,
and decision makers; understanding how to build and promote team work; and, as
Directors of the organization they gain hands-on experience managing a
non-profit corporation from budgeting and bookkeeping to personnel and policy
decisions. And,
1.5 Whereas, the
PIRG program’s relationship to research embraces the concept that new knowledge
can serve society, while endeavoring to ensure that knowledge is in fact
applied to societal needs and students at other colleges hosting Student PIRG
chapters have participated in and applied research through campaigns on the
California Energy Crisis, Tobacco at the Movies, Affordable Textbooks, and
more.
2 PIRG Chapter Features
2.1 Whereas, the
opportunity to tackle pressing social issues exists in a meaningful way through
the Student PIRG program because students hire a staff of professionals –
researchers, attorneys, advocates, and organizers – to work with them to design
and implement PIRG projects. And,
2.2 Whereas, PIRG
professional staff provide the tools necessary for genuine public policy participation with expertise on issues and the political
process. And,
2.3 Whereas, the PIRGIM Campus Organizer will be an available
resource to the entire
2.4 Whereas, PIRG professional
staff are consistently present in the corporate board rooms and legislative
chambers where decisions are made which is a prerequisite to meaningful
participation in the public
policy arena. And,
2.5 Whereas, the student PIRG program is entirely
student controlled – governed by a student board of directors elected by
students from member campuses. And,
2.6 Whereas, the student board is responsible for hiring staff,
adopting policy positions, and approving the organizational budget. And,
2.7 Whereas, student governance creates some of the unique learning
experiences that the PIRG program has to offer, such as financial management of
a non-profit corporation, personnel decisions, and strategic planning. And,
2.8 Whereas, it is particularly important that the students involved
in the PIRG program are the ones who determine the agenda and priorities since
PIRG’s charter is non-ideological and without a set issue agenda. And
2.9 Whereas,
Student PIRG chapters have traditionally been funded by student fees. And,
2.10 Whereas,
common funding mechanisms include allocations from the general student
activities fee, or a separate fee created through a democratic decision making
process. And,
2.11 Whereas,
Given PIRG’s commitment to student engagement, it is also particularly
important that the decision to fund a PIRG chapter does not require cuts to
existing student programs. And,
2.12 Whereas, establishing
a pilot PIRGIM chapter would not require cuts to existing student programs.
3 PIRGIM Pilot
Chapter Program Priorities
3.1 Whereas, the
student body is generally uneducated on their rights and resources as tenants.
And,
3.2 Whereas, the
3.3 Whereas, the
University provides many useful resources, yet it does not and is often not in
a good position to act as an advocate for students as tenants. And,
3.4 Whereas, the
PIRGIM Pilot chapter’s highest priority campaign will be a Renter’s Rights
campaign. And,
3.6 Whereas, in executing the Renter’s Rights Campaign, the PIRGIM
Pilot Chapter will thoroughly research community housing problems and available
resources, set up a hotline next fall to serve as the “go-to” place to get
housing questions answered, actively work to educate students on their rights as
tenants.
3.7 Whereas, other priority campaigns will include a Higher Education
Campaign and Affordable Textbooks for an Affordable Education. And,
3.8 Whereas, the PIRGIM Pilot Chapter will further execute other
smaller campaigns on the local, state and national level.
4 PIRGIM Pilot
Chapter
4.1 Whereas, without an opportunity for students to
interact and learn from staff and without an opportunity for students on campus
to run and execute PIRGIM campaigns, it can be hard to imagine the impact a
full PIRGIM chapter can have. And,
4.2 Whereas, to showcase the potential of a chapter
without a long term funding commitment, some campuses start pilot chapters with
the intention of fully funding a chapter of PIRGIM in the future. And,
4.1.3 Whereas, the PIRG “Pilot Chapter Program” is a
way to introduce PIRGIM and the chapter model of organizing to new campuses
across the state. And,
4.4 Whereas, funding a PIRGIM pilot chapter
represents a commitment and investment from PIRGIM and from the student
body. And,
4.5 Whereas, a PIRGIM pilot chapter introduces
students on campus to the local, state and national campaigns of the PIRGIM
student chapters and introduces faculty and staff to the internship program
PIRGIM runs. And,
4.6 Whereas, PIRGIM staff get acquainted with local
issues while simultaneously introducing students with the staff and the issues
they champion through a PIRGIM pilot program.
And,
4.7 Whereas, The Pilot Chapter
program is a fourteen month program ending with a student government or
campus-wide decision to fully fund and foster a PIRGIM Student Chapter at a
particular campus.
5 PIRGIM Budget
and Pilot Chapter Budget
5.1 Whereas, the
PIRGIM Budget Chapter and Chapter Pilot Budget are as follows (see Appendix for
Budget Narrative):
PIRGIM Budget & Pilot Chapter Proposal
|
Staffing |
Chapter |
Pilot
Chapter |
|
Operational
Expenses |
Chapter |
Pilot
Chapter |
|
Campus
Organizer |
$20,700 |
$6,831 |
|
Office
Supplies |
$225 |
$74 |
|
|
$6,000 |
$2,000 |
|
Postage and
Shipping |
$150 |
$50 |
|
PIRGIM
Environmental Advocate |
$2,500 |
$825 |
|
Office Copies |
$175 |
$58 |
|
PIRGIM
Consumer Advocate |
$5,000 |
$1,630 |
|
Printing and
Publications |
$3,600 |
$1,188 |
|
PIRGIM Field
Associate |
$2,500 |
$825 |
|
Travel |
$2,200 |
$726 |
|
USPIRG
Advocates & Organizing Staff |
$4,500 |
$1,485 |
|
Office Rent |
$2,200 |
$726 |
|
National
Campus Program Staff |
$3,000 |
$990 |
|
Local
Telephone |
$200 |
$66 |
|
National
Campus Training, Development &
Oversight |
$3,500 |
$1,155 |
|
Long Distance |
$350 |
$116 |
|
Higher
Education Project |
$2,500 |
$825 |
|
Utilities |
$225 |
$74 |
|
|
|
|
|
Books and
Publications |
$150 |
$50 |
|
Salary
Total |
$50,200 |
$16,566 |
|
Conferences/Special
Events |
$200 |
$66 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operational
Total |
$9,675 |
$3,193 |
|
|
Chapter |
Pilot
Chapter |
|
Total |
$59,875 |
$19,759 |
5.1.1 Whereas, the
PIRGIM Pilot Chapter will operate under the rules governing 501(c)(3)
non-profit organizations; and
5.1.2 Whereas,
Students for PIRGIM requests to create a pilot chapter for Winter 2005 and
introduce a ballot proposal for a fully-funded PIRGIM chapter in March 2006.
6 Conclusion
6.1 Therefore be it resolved, that the Michigan Student Assembly supports the creation
of a PIRGIM chapter at the
6.2 Therefore be it further resolved, that the Michigan Student Assembly appoint a PIRGIM
Oversight Select Committee to report back to MSA PIRGIM’s progress, (see
attached Appendix for written description); and
6.3 Therefore be it finally
resolved, that the Michigan Student
Assembly transfer $19,759 from Committee Discretionary into External
Relations account according to the previously stated budget in order to sponsor
the
Appendix A
PIRGIM Budget Narrative 2005
PIRGIM’s
plan to meet its goals and objectives
The
budget below is the driving force for all the campaigns, events, trainings and
goals stated above. This narrative is
designed to give greater detail to the line items simply listed above in the
PIRGIM Budget Reference Guide.
Staffing
Of all the numbers
in our budget, this is the most important.
The staff positions students fund for the year is the most basic outline
of our program work. Our ability to hire
experts is PIRGIM’s main strategy to make a difference on the things that are
most important to
With a full
chapter, PIRGIM’s staff consists of organizers, advocates, researchers and
issue experts. The combination of staff
is what makes all of our programs successful.
Our issue advocates that coordinate our efforts to clean up waterways or
lower tuition rely on organizing staff to educate the campus community, train
volunteers, and gather the public support the advocate needs to win. During the pilot chapter, the
This complement
of on campus action that drives statewide solutions to statewide problems makes
PIRGIM unique, it makes us effective, and it makes us important to the campus
experience and to the state overall.
PIRGIM Staff
Our 2005 budget plans on the following
staffing scenario:
Campus Organizer
The Campus Organizer, a
professional organizer who receives over a month of training in their first
year on staff, works directly with students and is the chapter’s primary
resource. The organizer runs internship
and civic education programs and coordinates each semester’s campaigns with
student leaders. Having a fulltime
organizer allows the students to take on a much larger volume of work by
providing professional expertise on:
·
recruitment
–how to begin the semester
with an intense 3-week recruitment drive, recruiting hundreds of students to
participate in the semester’s campaigns,
·
leadership
development- how to
constantly increase the skills and leadership of volunteers and interns,
·
grassroots
organizing- how to effectively use grass roots tactics such
as public comments, call-in days and coalition building, etc.,
·
advocacy- how to effectively work with elected
representatives,
·
and
working with the media, how to write a press advisory and release, hold
a press conference, get a letter to the editor published, etc.
Further the
Campus Organizer is a resource to the entire campus community, providing advice
and trainings to other student groups on executing effective campus programs.
Total salaried amount: $20,700
(salary assumes a 9 month position and includes taxes and benefits).
State Advocacy Staff
Theses line
items funds part of the overall advocacy staff that work for PIRGIM – the
resources here would subsidize advocacy and grassroots efforts coordinated on
behalf of the student chapters.
Advocates would work with student interns and the Student Board of
Directors to develop state-based PIRGIM campaigns.
Staff
Biographies:
Brian Imus,
State Director
As the Legislative Advocate, Mr. Imus coordinates the environmental, consumer
and good government campaigns through research, advocacy and public education.
Prior to joining PIRGIM staff in 1996, Mr. Imus worked on two campaign finance
reform ballot initiatives, doing public education through the media and
speaking before community organizations. Mr. Imus graduated from the
Megan Owens,
Consumer Advocate
As
PIRGIM's Consumer Advocate, Megan Owens works to prevent consumer rip-offs and
create a fair marketplace. In 2004, she authored a report entitled
"Policing Privacy" and developed recommendations for preventing identity
theft which led to
Kate
Madigan, Environmental Advocate
Based out of our Lansing office, Ms. Madigan works on a variety of our priority
environmental issues, including our efforts to promote smart land use planning
and to protect Michigan’s waterways. Prior to joining PIRGIM staff, Ms. Madigan
worked for three years as Safe Foods Advocate for the National Association of
State PIRGs. Ms. Madigan graduated from the
Jason
Barbose, Field Organizer
Mr. Barbose works to coordinate PIRGIM campaigns throughout the
state. Through his work with media, activists, and other organizations, he
builds visible support for PIRGIM's campaigns in an effort to convince
Salaried amounts for each Advocacy Staff member is based on a
percentage of their salary and the amount of time and resources they will be
devoting to working on the chapter’s priority campaigns.
All the
different state and student PIRGs hire national experts to work on the federal
level on important public interest issues.
These staff work with Congress to protect the environment, defend
consumers, promote civic participation and watchdog democracy. Students hire more than twenty staff in
total, and these staff write countless reports, run a number of campaigns, and
provide advice for the students involved.
You can see all the work of the USPIRG staff at www.uspirg.org
National Campus Program Staff
Each year,
students from across the country prioritize a set of issues to run as national
campaigns. These issues then receive
special staff attention and coordination to make sure we have an impact. This fall, the campaigns that students
prioritized were the New Voters Project and Affordable Textbooks for an
Affordable Education. You can see
examples of these campaigns at www.ospirgstudents.org. National Campus Program Staff design
campaigns with students, coordinate research and reports, and develop strategy.
National Campus Training, Development
and Oversight
Our staff need
training and oversight to succeed.
Organizers and students get training, strategic advice, and oversight
from a set of national experts and direct supervisors. Each year, our organizers and advocacy staff
go through a month of intensive training so their work can be as effective as
possible. Each semester, students have
the opportunity to go to statewide and regional trainings where experts and
experienced staff run workshops on campaign and skill development.
The Student PIRGs Higher Education
Project
The Student
PIRGs Higher Education Project is one of the few student directed, DC-based
projects that fights for federal financial aid.
This year, this project is even more important because Congress will be
setting the next five years of higher education policy. The advocates that work for the Higher
Education Project in DC also provide expertise to state-based higher education
efforts.
Operating
Expenses
In order to
make the work of our professional staff and student interns more effective,
PIRGIM accrues a certain set of operating costs throughout the year. We do everything we can to keep these costs
at a minimum, and overall, the organization conserves these resources to the
best of its ability because each operating dollar we spend takes away from
funds we could use for hiring additional experts. So every dollar spent is well thought
through.
Some of these
operational expenses are good, strategic decisions too, and at times the
organization will make the conscious decision to spend more money on certain
resources that help make staff overall more effective.
A general way
to understand our operational expenses is to follow the staff, the money we
spend on operational expenses increases as the number of staff increase.
Office
Supplies
This line item pays for a variety of
materials and supplies on campus and at the state office. Supplies purchased include: pens, notebooks,
computer disks, paper clips, rubber bands, clips, laser printer cartridges, fax
toner cartridges, file folders, markers, paint, tape, staples, staplers, and
supplies for mailings including envelopes, plain and manila. We budget on spending roughly $150 dollars on
office supplies per campus chapter and staff person.
Postage and
Shipping
This line item
pays for a variety of mailings to students, and citizens. Petitions and letters are sent to decision
makers. Fact sheets, reports and other
information are sent to media contacts and coalition partners. In addition to regular mailings, materials,
supplies, props and other campaign supplies are often purchased centrally and
then shipped to chapters to save money on printing costs.
Office Copies
This line item
pays for office copying costs for campus and state program staff.
Printing and Publications
This line item pays for the
printing of fact sheets, websites, posters, brochures, newsletters, over 30
publications in all for tens of thousands of students and citizens across the
state. In addition, this line item pays
for the printing and duplication of PIRGIM reports. Each year, staff and students release
research reports that call on decision makers to protect the public interest or
warn the public about environmental threats, consumer dangers and rip-offs and
assaults on our democracy.
Recent
publications include from other student chapters include: (this is a partial list, the Student
PIRGs are constantly working on newsletters, fact sheets, and brochures that
communicate important public interest work to the surrounding campus and
community):
Student PIRG
Student Handbook
Student PIRG
Activist Toolkit (a guide for student activists)
Student PIRG
Internship brochure
Student PIRG
Organizational Brochure
Student PIRG
Impact: the newsletter of the Student PIRGs
Factsheets on:
clean water, credit card rip-offs, bank fees, hunger, wilderness areas, the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, global warming, clean air, federal higher
education issues,
Posters for:
general interest meetings, internships, all Student PIRG issues, call-in days,
etc.
Organizational
banners
Campaign
banners
The Student
PIRG’s website can be found at www.studentpirgs.org, you can see an example
of a specific student PIRG website at www.ospirgstudents.org. To see an example of a campaign website,
visit www.campusbookswap.com.
Travel
This line item
pays for travel for students and staff for regional and national meetings and trainings,
it also pays for program staff to attend meetings with decision makers and
community leaders, press conference travel, etc.
Office Rent
This line item
pays for office space for our advocacy staff.
Students and the campus organizer will also use space when they are in
Local
Telephone
This line item
pays for local telephone use and fees on campuses and for state program
staff.
Long Distance
Telephone
This line item
pays for long distance fees for organizers and program staff. It assumes that the organizer will be on the
phone long distance for three hours a month, and that the advocacy staff will
spend eight hours a month on the phone.
Utilities
This line item
pays for the utilities accrued throughout the year from the state office. This line item pays for water, gas and
electric bills.
Books and
Publications
This line item
pays for a variety of books and publications that full time staff, board
members, student interns and volunteers use for reference, research and
training throughout the year. In years
past, we’ve used this line item to buy training books like Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela, Fire at Eden’s Gate, The Heat
is On, a book examining the problems of global warming, and Rules for Radicals, a book examining
social reform movements. Some expenses
in this category are for research, one expense from last year in many states
was the purchase of textbooks to help do the final research for the Student
PIRG’s Affordable Textbooks for an Affordable Education campaign.
Conferences/Special
Events
This
line item pays for staff and student attendance at a variety of conferences and
events throughout the year. Conferences
that staff and students in other states have attended in the past include:
local and statewide debates, higher education conferences like the Northwest
Student Leadership Conference, issues conferences on clean water and toxics,
and we use this line item to expand our research and knowledge on issues, and
less for training. We do hold retreats
and leadership events, but we ask students to pay their own way to those
conferences.
Appendix B
PIRGIM
OVERSIGHT SELECT COMMITTEE WRITTEN DESCRIPTION
- Committee Composition
- The Leadership of the PIRGIM
Oversight Select Committee will consist of a Chair and Vice Chair as
specified by The Michigan Student Assembly Compiled Code (Article II.D.3)
- Committee Responsibility
- To ensure Student PIRGIM
operates in a financially responsible manner.
- To report back to the Michigan
Student Assembly on the progress of Student PIRGIM’s campaigns in
relation to its stated goals.
- Committee Duration
- The committee will expire on
- By two reads and a majority
vote by the Assembly