Stephen DeSalvo is seeking re-election for Student Association comptroller, the position responsible for helping allocate the $2.6-million Student Activity Fee collected from Syracuse University students.

DeSalvo will not make a formal announcement of his candidacy.

“I think I realize more now than ever — I kind of had a sense of this before I entered it — how much the person in this office matters in terms of programs and events on campus getting pulled off successfully,” he said.

The junior chemical engineering major said he’s looking to continue improving the organization’s tier system and fiscal training sessions, as well as being fair and balanced during the budget process.

In regard to the tier system, a four-part scale that determines the maximum amount of money a registered student organization is eligible to receive from SA, DeSalvo said he would continue to refine a new point system to determine if a group can move up or down the tiers.

While a recently passed bill created an application process for moving up in the tier system, the point scale for grading the student organizations has yet to be fully defined, he said. All changes regarding a group’s standing will not go into effect until next semester, DeSalvo said, and by serving for another term he’d be able to keep working on this change.

He said he would also look to re-evaluate SA’s fiscal training sessions for groups to make the process easier for all parties involved. The creation of an online video or module explaining how to apply for funds is one possibility, he said.

Unlike the last election, DeSalvo is not running unopposed. Osarumwense Pat-Osagie, a junior finance and entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major and assembly representative, is also in the race.

But DeSalvo said Pat-Osagie’s involvement with Alpha Phi Alpha, which is one of only four organizations on campus that can receive more than $25,000 in funding from SA, poses a conflict of interest. DeSalvo said Pat-Osagie has never served on or applied to be on the Finance Board, and that he’s worried Pat-Osagie doesn’t understand the full responsibilities of the job.

“What happens if you elect someone and they don’t know the time commitment that it’s going to be, or they don’t realize everything that they have to do?” DeSalvo said. “They can’t just leave the position — it’s something you are elected to take on for a year.”

DeSalvo said it would be beneficial to students if he serves another term because of his knowledge and experience in the position, and willingness to help organizations with events.

Said DeSalvo: “I think that I’ve been fair and equal, and I’ve done a respectable job, and that’s why I’m running for re-election.”

Published on October 31, 2012 at 10:22 pm

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum