Sub-Board I is likened to a supermarket like Tops or Wegmans, in that it acts as a distributor for a variety of services and events for students, according to SBI Executive Director William Hooley.
The organization is student owned and student run, but is overseen by Hooley and also enlists outside companies to help manage accounts. SBI essentially acts as the principal custodial and dispersing agent for student mandatory fees. In other words, it oversees and distributes student money for student services.
"It's a great chance to take an active leadership role in a student-run organization which will teach skills important in a work environment while having a good time working with the student body," said SBI Vice President Michael Goggin.
SBI funds Generation, a student magazine; the student medical insurance plan; the WRUB radio station; cable television; Internet access; a free legal aid office; the ticket office; health education and human services and more.
According to Goggin, the board works with the undergraduate Student Association to provide savings to students for events such as concerts and films.
With the help of external accounting firms like Deloitte and Touch, SBI "audits student groups and provides observations and recommendations about expenditures," said SBI President Ratesh Patel. Patel assumed the position after former president George Pape resigned to pursue his responsibilities as the new student SUNY Trustee earlier this month.
Copies of the audit report are made available to all student groups associated with SBI, including the Student Wide Judiciary, which could then take the necessary steps to penalize student organizations that misappropriate funds.
SBI also employs an external law firm, Newbech and Shonn, which functions as a corporate council and attends all board meetings, and the firm Allen and Lippes, available to provide students with free legal advice. The organization also buys general liability, bonding and multimedia insurance privately, which protects the university from possible libel suits from student periodicals and publications, according to Hooley.
SBI is a non-profit corporation incorporated in 1970 by students themselves. The board is made up of 14 members representing seven different student governments, with each government holding its own election to decide its representatives. Each student association receives one board member for every 3,000 students and each member exerts an equal amount of power.
Six of the members represent the Undergraduate Student Association, three represent the Graduate Student Association, and one vote each come from the Graduate Management Association, the Dental Student Association, the Millard Fillmore College Student Association, the Student Bar Association and the Medical School Student Association.
Services of SBI are voted on and recorded at board meetings. Minutes from the meetings are then printed up and available to all at the SBI office.
Hooley manages the daily affairs of the corporation. Below Hooley are 25 professional employees and 150 student employees. The vice president of the board holds an annual mass interview in April in search of stipend employees who will be hired in May.
Three officers are elected annually to preside over the organization. The board holds elections in April and the winners assume office in May. The current officers are President Patel, Vice President Goggin and Treasurer Erik Lars.
While many students are unaware of SBI's opportunities for involvement, Hooley encouraged all interested to investigate the organization's possibilities.
"Please get involved, it's a terrific experience," said Hooley. "And it's great to have on a r?(c)sum?(c)."
"I'd consider doing this so that I could have a voice in the UB community and feel like I was more a part of the school," said Kimberly Terry, a sophomore management major. "It's just hard to get involved on such a large campus."
"I don't know much about the board itself," said Danielle Dahulich, a sophomore pharmacy major. "But I think they come up with a lot of great ideas for concerts and such. And I would definitely consider joining to get my voice heard."
For more information on Sub-Board I, stop by the office on the third floor of the Student Union or visit http://www.subboard.com.
