WSA Profile: Devin Brown, Allocations Commission Chair

Meet Devin Brown, the Allocations Commission Chair for the Western Student association. Born in Detroit, Brown went to Kalamazoo Central. After graduating, he went to Kalamazoo Valley Community College and earned an associates degree in business administration. Last fall, Brown transfered to Western Michigan University where he is pursing a major in advertising and promotion and a minor in Japanese. A member of Japan club, Brown hopes to study abroad in Tokyo for the 2010-11 school year.

Photo courtesy of Devin Brown

Western Herald: What is the role of the allocations chair?

Devin Brown: The allocations chair is a mentor for the Allocations Committee. The Allocations Committee, what they do is they hear [registered student organizations’] budgets, and based on the information given they make a decision, made by a majority vote, if their budget would be worthy not just for their RSO, but also the students of Western’s campus. You present your case to us and we’ll give you a vote. My job is that everyone follows the bylaws and the bylines. I don’t have voting rights, but I am the mentor, so if they have any questions, I can help them.

Western Herald: So if I am an RSO and I want money for an event, I come to the Allocations Committee and ask for it?

Devin Brown: Exactly.

Western Herald: What was it like last year being on the Allocations Committee?

Devin Brown: It was interesting. It was an eye-opener to see how much power we have on the committee. Depending on how you vote, you control who gets funded or not. It’s also a very difficult position to be in too, because once you get on the committee and start to get to know people in different RSOs and they start to ask you questions [about requesting money], you have to differentiate the bias, like, “am I doing this for you” or “am I doing it for the larger student body?” So it’s really about ethics and morals more than anything else with the Allocations Committee. Western, it’s not a small school, but a lot of people know a lot of people.

Western Herald: What do you think WSA can add to campus this year?

Devin Brown: The role of WSA is, it’s kind of cliché to say it, but WSA is for the students and was made by the students, meaning that no one special organization gets more privileges than another group. My biggest goal for the Allocations Committee this school year is to diversify the allocated funds. There have been a lot of events that have been going on for years. They were good events in the early ’90s, late ’80s, but times have changed. We’re still giving [them] $10,000 and we’re not getting the same vibe back from the students. So it’s going to be difficult. We need to be around. People need to know who we are. A lot of times they don’t know who we are, we don’t know who [they] are. A lot of RSOs don’t know who we are.

Western Herald: How are you going to spread the money?

Devin Brown: Me and the other cabinet members are going to meet over the summer. There is actually a new action plan that we have. We have been going to involvement zones [after a session of orientation, different RSOs set up booths to inform incoming freshmen about what their RSO offers - ED.], we have also come up with things to do over the summer, we’re going to give them information on who we are and what we do, so that way people are more informed.

Western Herald: How do you see WSA as someone coming from KVCC?

Devin Brown: It’s always changing. Every year we have new people, new leadership, new cabinet members. I’ve always enjoyed that [WSA] is never the same. When I first came to WSA they were trying to get an ATM in the business college – last year they were talking about recycling, how to use money to get different containers across campus. It’s always something different, but something we need on campus.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=7105

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Aug 11 2009. Filed under Breaking, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com