A proposed financial amendment to the Union Charter will be voted upon by the student body in polls that opened Thursday and will close Tuesday at 5 p.m. The amendment reforms the structure of financial leadership within the Union, requires clubs to submit financial reports to the Union, provides for the retention of an administrative assistant and clarifies and expands upon other financial aspects of the constitution.

The proposed amendments came as a result of past mismanagement of Union funds, which, according to a financial audit by Assistant Vice President for Students and Enrollment Brian Walton, included poorly-kept records, inconsistent policies for handling transactions and evidence that a previous Union treasurer who used the Senate account for personal gain.

Both the University's audit and the report of a University-hired independent consultant attributed the mismanagement to the lack of a professional to assist the Union with its finances. This summer, the Office of Students and Enrollment hired Loretta Shagoury, who is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Finance at the Brandeis International Business School, to fill that position.

"Bills need to be paid, procedures need to be followed," Union Treasurer Andrei Khots said. "The treasurer's job is extremely difficult. It's almost impossible for one student to do. That's why the University hired (Shagoury)."

Shagoury works full-time to reconcile bank statements, write out checks to be signed, pay bills, keep the books, and deal with the technicalities of tax codes for the Union.

"Andrei and I always talk back and forth," Shagoury said. "He makes all the decisions, I just tell him the guidelines."

The proposed amendment would establish a fee, collected through a small tuition increase, to pay the salary of an administrative assistant. If the fee is not established, Khots says the funds will be taken out of the approximately $800 thousand a year Student Activity Fund which funds all Union-chartered organizations.

Amendments to the Union Constitution require the signatures of either ten senators or 15 percent of the Union before they can be brought before the student body for a vote.

Earlier this semester, ten senators endorsed the amendment which was submitted by members of the Union Executive Board and the Chair of the Allocations board.

"A lot of eyes have read (the amendment) and suggested changes, a lot of which have been made," Brandfon said.

This hasn't eliminated all opposition. The Brandeis Orthodox Organization (BOO) has expressed its objections to sections of the amendment that require clubs to submit a financial report that document all sources of income.

"We're concerned that if the allocations board is aware of some of our outside funding, our club would suffer in marathon and outside appeals," BOO Treasurer Seth Sclair said. "This could affect our programming and other aspects of the club."

In an interview, Sclair cited a question put to BOO by the Allocations Board in the Fall of 2002. That question was found in the records of the Allocations Board: "How much do these donations amount to? What do they use these donations for? It is rumored that BOO just received a $15,000 donation, is this true?"

"If the (Allocations) Board is aware of every dollar that comes in to a club and every dollar that goes out and they have the total financial picture, then they would be able to make a good evaluation of how much should be given to that club," Sclair said. "If they're only given a limited amount of information, I don't see how they can make a good decision."

But Union officials counter that, according to the bylaws, it is illegal to "unduly penalize chartered organizations for outside fundraising."

They also say that, for all clubs, it's not a matter of dampening sovereignty, but rather an issue of safeguarding against tax code violations.

"If (clubs) violate some kind of IRS tax code, the University is responsible for that, which is why it's so important that we track all club money," Brandfon said.

The amendment also renames the Allocations Board and expands its powers. The newly termed "Finance Board" would "assist the Treasurer in overseeing financial matters of organizations that receive funding from the Board."

According to Khots, the increase in the Board's power will help both him and the Board perform their duties more effectively.

"The Finance Board will assist the Treasurer in various things," Khots said. "It's great that I'll be able to get help so everything isn't on me."

"An essential part of this is having the Finance Board play a more integral role in the process. With (this increase in available) information, the Board will be better equipped to make allocations decisions."

In addition, the amendment ensures that all unused money from the Allocations Fund at the end of each semester will be used in following semesters for future allocations.

Allowing money to flow from one semester to the next will prevent unused money from multiple semesters from accumulating in a roll-over fund. Such a fund of approximately $122,000 currently exists, and students will vote how to use that fund in conjunction with the vote on the financial amendment.

"A lot of students view this as something that has to be done. This is an extremely important piece of legislation," said Khots.