The Student Union issued a press release Nov. 9 to announce that it has entered the final stages in the development of the Student Union Management System, a new software program that will help student organizations better manage their finances. All student organizations will be required to use the Web site beginning Jan. 19, according to the press release. The primary goal of SUMS is to increase transparency and efficiency in the distribution of club finances, according to Stephen Costa, a budget analyst in the Office of Students and Enrollment, who handles Union finances.

When SUMS is fully implemented next semester, each student organization will be given an account through which it will be able to access the program. The main page shows a list of finance requests, a description of each request, the date it was issued and its approval status. Another page includes details of the club's allocations and where its finances are directed.

SUMS is the result of a partnership between the Student Union and Village Software, a Boston-based company that develops database systems and software programs for businesses, universities and nonprofit organizations. According to Adam Leffert, a developer at Village Software, the Union has been working with Village Software to develop the new system since January 2008, when the project began.

The Student Union paid approximately $75,000 for the development and maintenance of the system. The project was funded by leftover club allocations.

According to Costa, the push for development of a new finance organization system was a combined effort. "I was the one originally pushing hardest for a robust application, but [past Union Treasurer] Choon Woo Ha '08 and [Assistant Vice President for Students and Enrollment] Frank Urso made significant contributions to help make it possible," Costa wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

Student Union Treasurer Daniel Acheampong '11 and Costa gave a presentation to club leaders at a special Nov. 13 meeting arranged to introduce clubs to the new SUMS program.

In his presentation to club leaders, Acheampong said that designers of the program wanted to make the Web site user-friendly. "We tried to remove what was not necessary and make things simpler for student organizations," he said.

SUMS will allow club leaders to submit requests through the Web site to apply for funding. The site automatically generates a form for each transaction, which may then be submitted to the Union Treasury. Currently, requests are downloaded from the Union Treasury Web site, TheTreasurer.org, or taken from the Student Union office and written out by hand. "Now clubs can do almost everything [regarding finance transactions] online," Acheampong told the Justice.

Then both Costa and the Union Treasury will review the request. According to Costa, SUMS will make the request process more efficient and timely.

Costa and Acheampong believe that the new SUMS program will be an improvement over the prior system, a database system developed by Costa through Microsoft Access in the spring and summer of 2007. Student groups have been using this system since 2007.

"I wouldn't characterize the previous system as 'inefficient,' but it is less efficient than this," Costa told the Justice.

Costa said that one of the main problems with the current system is that information is sometimes outdated because the Treasury and the Office of Students and Enrollment must process each club's request. "This situation often led to clubs thinking that they had more or less money than they really did-they would drop off a request form at the Student Union, but it would take about a week or two before the information was actually reflected online, because we had to manually enter the data, plus run and upload the reports," Costa said in an e-mail. With SUMS, clubs will be able to see their requests and other financial status information in real time.

Costa does not expect much difficulty during the switch to the new system. "There will be a period of adjustment," he told the Justice. "We've done a lot to make the transition as easy as possible." A reference sheet will be available on the SUMS Web site to explain the different features of the system.

Costa does not believe that any objections to the implementation of the new system have been made. "The responses I have seen have all been very positive," he told the Justice in an e-mail.

"I'm really excited about the system and glad that clubs will soon be able to start using it," Acheampong told the Justice.

The Union Treasury and the Office of Students and Enrollment have already switched to the SUMS program. "It's been working great," Costa said.

"I feel that the new system will be a huge improvement because I know some clubs in the past have had some organizational trouble," Emma Fuchsberg '10, a member of Students Talking About Relationships, told the Justice.

"This will be more efficient-it seems quicker and easier," Natalie Janafaza '13, treasurer of the Brandeis Law Journal, told the Justice.