Student turnout was low again at Thursday’s budget model forum, but the Government of the Student Body president said she was pleased with discussion.

Johnny Pickett, associate vice president for business and finance, and Darin Wohlgemuth, program manager of enrollment services, who also works part time in the Office of the Provost specifically on budget model issues, briefed five GSB members on the proposed budget model and answered questions about it in the Gold Room of the Memorial Union.

“We haven’t had a lot of students come to the discussions,” GSB president and senior in political science Emily Jensen said, “but the questions that have been asked have been good.”

Jensen said she hoped the students who were able to attend would be able to leave the meeting with enough information to inform others.

The meeting started off with a brief overview of how the proposed budget model would work.

Wohlgemuth said the main difference is that the proposed budget model would allow university subdivisions – such as the individual colleges – to keep the money they make.

“The new method will tailor that revenue to how it was generated,” he said.

Jensen asked if one of the primary motivators for creating the model was for the university to eventually become independent of state appropriations.

Pickett said that though she did not see the university becoming entirely independent of state appropriations any time soon, the new budget model would help Iowa State stay financially stable should state appropriations continue to decline.

She and Wohlgemuth also disseminated concerns of competition among colleges.

“In the other institutions that use this type of model, the issue of competition hasn’t been as big a problem as people think,” Pickett said.

Although she acknowledged that competition for students might be a problem initially, she said it would not persist long term.

“People would soon realize it’s not a successful solution,” Pickett said.

Wohlgemuth agreed.

He said the long-term effects of the proposed budget model will improve the quality of Iowa State’s education instead of deteriorating it.

“I really think that this will say, ‘How can we best serve our students?'” Wohlgemuth said.

According to the Oct. 31 report posted on the committee’s Web site, students will soon have the opportunity to serve the budget model as well.

One of the additions to the last report is the creation of advisory committees established to aid in the implementation of the model. According to the Oct. 31 report, each of these committees will have an opening for a student representative, who would first have to be approved by GSB.

“We’re looking for anyone who would want to make impact on where their tuition is going,” Jensen said.

She said students would not necessarily have to have a background in finance as long as they would “follow through and have a continuous voice.”

Applications can be picked up at the GSB office in the basement of the Memorial Union.