More than $60,000 has gone into the University of Iowa’s Undergraduate Student Government website called HawkIdeas, and student government representatives are questioning whether an additional $2,500 is worth it to keep the site operational.
The website allows anyone with a UI identification number to share petition ideas anonymously with USG. Initially, about $60,000 went into starting HawkIdeas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The website has not been renovated or used much, so there are many bugs and areas that need to be fixed, according to the authors of the bill.
The bill was posed by Sens. Matt Lancaster, Avery Dettbarn, Drake Riddle, and Lily Severson, requesting another $2,500 to be used to renovate the website so they can market it properly to students and staff.
Qualms regarding excess spending among USG staff, however, have raised debate.
“We are legally obligated to get the balance under $120,000 by the end of a given fiscal year for a variety of reasons, but mitigating risk for misuse is the primary rationale,” External Chief of Staff Jack Carrell wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan.
“The rather extensive safeguards provided by the Student Organization Business Office and general abandonment of cash make it virtually impossible to misspend any student government dollars,” Carrell wrote.
Carrell added that USG often pursues projects because they start with $200,000 in the reserve account each year, so they need to spend $80,000 as a requirement to avoid risk of misuse but often end up spending $110,000 in a given fiscal year.
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However, because student organization events were limited during COVID-19, the starting balance grew significantly to $450,000. Two administrations collaborated with university officials on various projects to bring the balance below the set limit. One of these projects included a larger-than-usual initial allocation to HawkIdeas, Carrell said.
The HawkIdeas Funding Bill was passed on Feb. 4, at approximately a 3/4 vote, with 50 senators voting and causing much debate. Some senators had comments about disagreement, while others simply shook their heads.
“When riding a beaten-down horse, the best thing to do is let it die,” Senator Caden Shetler said. “I think we need to let this app die.”
While many nodded their heads in agreement with Shetler, agreeing the website was not getting enough traffic and they have already put too much money into it, others argued there is no other way that students and staff can have their voices directly heard by USG, and they should not throw away the investment.
Gracie Rosengreen, a second-year student at the UI, has never heard of HawkIdeas.
“I feel like we should’ve been told about it at orientation or ‘On Iowa Week’ when we’re freshman to let us know that it’s there for us to use,” Rosengreen said.