The proposed DASB Senate 2020-21 budget for student payroll is $301,000, a $33,000 decrease from this fiscal year’s budget of $334,000 because funding for many positions is being cut altogether.

For the fiscal year of 2018-19, the student payroll budget was $445,000. The proposed $301,000 is a $144,000 decrease in payroll funding.

The budget cuts take into account student minimum wage being raised to $15 an hour in compliance with state minimum wage and DASB Senate’s ranking of the importance of the student positions to the programs themselves. This also includes the impact of the program on students on campus.

Programs that receive no funding have to hire students through financial aid through a federal work study program.

“A lot of students don’t take advantage of applying for financial aid,” said Jacqueline DiBernardo, student employment specialist. “Every year that students don’t apply for that, we lose funding (which) means that the department wouldn’t have any money.”

The proposed student payroll budget does not include student payroll for De Anza Student Body Senate positions, which includes the DASB secretary, accounts office staff, college life office staff, bike program staff, and flea market staff.

For this fiscal year, DASB student payroll’s budget is $69,000, and the proposed 2021 student payroll budget is around $79,000, which is around a $10,000 increase.

Student Success and Retention Center

Among those affected by the cuts are the Student Success and Retention Center, which provides academic resources to and supports students with historically low retention rates and first generation college students.

The SSRC had a student payroll budget of $17,000 in 2020’s fiscal year budget, which was decreased to $10,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. It had requested $30,000.

Office of Outreach

The student payroll budget for the Office of Outreach is completely cut in the proposed 2020 fiscal year budget, from $15,000 to zero.

The Office of Outreach requested $21,600 to fund their student payroll budget for next year.

Senators said that they believe that funding the outreach programs should come from the college itself, and not from the student government.

Umoja Program

The Umoja Program’s budget, which focuses on black student’s success in pursuing higher education, was cut except for $5,000 for domestic conferences and travel expenses.

Per the memorandum of understanding with the state-level Umoja Community, they are unable to cut funding for those expenses.

“At least that part, now everything else is for the school to then choose how they feel best to assist with the program and the students in closing the equity gap,” said Claudia Barbosa counselor and coordinator of the Umoja program at De Anza.

The cut comes despite a request of $21,600 for student payroll by Umoja, which Barbosa said was important to help develop leadership and gain valuable work experience.

“Right now, in the rebuilding stages of the program, that is absolutely crucial,” Barbosa said.

Free computer program

The Computer Donation Program, which assisted over 12,000 students in obtaining free computers, had its student payroll cut entirely.

Joseph Lipsig, CompTechS Computer Lab Coordinator, had requested an increase in allocation for student payroll of close to $5,400 over their current operating budget; they got cut instead.

The budget for the program now consists of supplies only, which Lipsig said they absolutely need.

“There are a number of things we do here out of pocket,” said Lipsig.

In the current year, their budget for student payroll is $5,000 and they requested approximately $10,400 for student payroll.

Lipsig maintains that he is grateful for the funds he does get from DASB and let them know that at a recent meeting.

“Let’s just put it this way, they used to give me an amount budgeted to pay students and I’ve always tried to cut that budget almost in half,” said Lipsig.

Multicultural Center

The Multicultural Center’s student payroll budget was completely cut, with a budget of $4,000 for this fiscal year cut down to zero. It had requested $8,640 for the 2021 fiscal year.

The Multicultural Center is home to 22 instructional programs, including Native American studies, Asian studies, as well as languages such as American Sign Language and Hindi.

Correction: Corrected “For the fiscal year of 2018-19, the student payroll budget was $445,000. The proposed $301,000 is a $144,000 decrease in payroll funding.”, from “For the fiscal year of 2019-20, the student payroll budget was $445,000. The proposed $301,000 is a $144,000 decrease in payroll funding.” Correction made on 8:30 PM 18 Feb 18 2020.