Members of two Iowa State student governments are forming a joint committee to probe spending and services of the residence department.

Government of the Student Body senators will vote Wednesday night on a resolution to establish the GSB Senate/Inter-Residence Hall Association Special Committee on the Department of Residence.

Interest in forming the committee stemmed from student complaints and from Department of Residence budget reallocations that resulted in decreased funding for Student Security and CyRide’s Brown Route, senators said.

“The students in residence halls are, to say the least, unhappy,” said Jonathon Weaver, TRA, who will chair the special committee if the resolution passes. “They feel like they’re part of a big money-making corporation, and that they’re paying more to live in the dorms but are getting less.”

A simple majority vote is needed to make the committee official. Weaver expects the resolution to pass with “flying colors.”

“It’ll pass easily for multiple reasons,” he said. “First, this is an issue that is on everybody’s mind, especially after something like the Brown Route, where the DOR leaves a group hanging and they’re forced to come to the GSB for money.

“Second, roughly a third of the students at ISU live in the residence halls, so the fact that this issue concerns so many students makes it a GSB matter,” Weaver said.

Once made official, the committee will review residence department budgeting procedures and look at the numbers to see exactly where and how money is being spent.

“We’re going to do a lot of investigating of DOR records and budget numbers,” said Alex Olson, off campus council and speaker of the senate. “We’re also going to compare those numbers with the other regent schools to see how our DOR services stack up.”

Weaver said GSB members have been warned about using the term “cut” when referring to budget numbers this year.

“The new buzzword is ‘re-prioritize,'” he said. “So Student Security or the Brown Route or maintenance staffs aren’t being cut in funding; they’re just no longer as much of a priority.”

At an IRHA meeting Thursday night, Director of Residence Randy Alexander said the budget reallocations were necessary to maintain and renovate residence halls. But Weaver said current students don’t feel that their needs are being met by the residence department.

“Current students are paying more and more in room and board, but they’re not getting anything for their money,” Weaver said. “Students don’t feel like they are important to the DOR. They feel it’s the future students that are being thought of, yet they have to pay for it now.”

GSB senators said they hope the committee serves its purpose and the issue is resolved in a timely fashion.

“This isn’t something that we want to see drawn out,” Olson said. “We hope to have the work wrapped up in a month or two at most.”

After the proposed committee finishes its investigation, a report detailing its findings and recommending changes will be given to GSB.

“Our purpose is to make sure that students are the top priority and that current students’ needs are being addressed,” Weaver said. “We’re trying to reassure students that their money is being spent wisely.”

Weaver also said that while it is not the intention of the committee to ask for any resignations of residence department officials, that could be one possible outcome of their findings.

“If after looking at everything, the committee feels that the best course of action would be someone’s resignation, I don’t think the committee would hesitate in asking for it,” he said.

Director of Residence Randy Alexander said he’s happy to answer any questions the committee may have and to provide them with needed information.

“I haven’t seen the resolution yet, so I can’t comment specifically on what they’re doing,” he said. “My primary concern is to address the residence hall associations and their elected representatives.”