The role of the vice president of business and finance (VPBF) of the Undergraduate Student Association (USA) is to handle the money students pay as part of their student activity fee.
Senior Jake McLaughlin knows a thing or two about money and USA. As a finance major, he is used to working with money and budgets. On top of that experience, he has served on USA in multiple different roles throughout his time at Canisius. The opportunity to serve as the VPBF in his final semester, for McLaughlin, is the icing on the cake. “Being vice president of business & finance for the Undergraduate Student Association has opened many doors for me,” he said. “With the increase in opportunities, I have had the ability to set goals and mold the role in the way I see the best fit, hoping to improve Canisius undergraduate life.”
McLaughlin has majors in management and economics as well, each of which supports his work with the Finance Board. He seeks to bring a new perspective to the role and how clubs receive funds.
“My main goal this summer was equal opportunity for all clubs on campus to hold events and access student activity fee funds. I did this by creating a budget request. In the past, there has been a budget allocation, but this was based on prior club usage.” McLaughlin said, “I felt like this limited the ability for all clubs to have equal access to the funds we, as the students, put forth. This also doesn’t account for clubs that are revamping and building up interest.”
On top of the efficiency of allocating funds, McLaughlin is very passionate about bringing students together and building community on campus. “I am also working on building up student interest via guest speakers. An example of this was Kevin Hines, [a] suicide prevention author and speaker. I feel events like this build camaraderie with students and allow us to positively address serious issues we may not address as effectively otherwise,” McLaughlin said.
At the end of the day, McLaughlin decided to run for VPBF in order to benefit the student body as a whole by changing some of the past systems and prioritizing efficiency. He concluded, “My priority is making sure the student activity money is being used in the most efficient capacity to better the student college experience here at Canisius.”