What is UFB?
The Undergraduate Finance Board (UFB) is an elected board of Brown University undergraduates responsible for allocating the Student Activities Fund to student groups and initiatives on campus. Every undergraduate student pays $400.00 of their annual cost of attendance into this fund, which amounts to approximately $2,800,000 in total, almost all of which is allocated every year.
UFB is one among three branches of Brown University’s Undergraduate Student Government. The other two are the Undergraduate Council of Students (UCS), and the Class Coordinating Board (CCB). The three branches together
UFB’s voting members are the Vice Chair and 16 Representatives (7 elected At-Large, 2 elected by First-Years, and 1 elected ex. officio as the Chair of the Student Activities Committee of UCS), each of whom advise and represent the interests of a number of student groups. The Chair administers the wholistic operations of UFB and generally does not vote. The Chair is assisted by the Vice Chair and a number the non-voting officers, the Historian, Liaison, and two Ambassadors.
Where does the money go?
UFB meets at least twice weekly to allocate the funds to student groups. UFB aims to allocate 75% of its available funds for a given year through Annual Budgeting. Any additional funding is allocated during the academic year via Supplemental and Baseline Budget requests. The money is allocated both directly to the accounts student groups hold with SAO (the Student Activities Office) as well as various Academic and Administrative Departments which support student groups.
What else does UFB do?
UFB also assists student groups with their budgeting concerns and fundraising goals; helps fund, plan, and regulate long-term student group investment projects; advises on various community-based and administrative projects led by UCS, CCB, and University leadership; and meets regularly with senior leaders of the University to represent the financial interests of the undergraduate student body.
History of the Board
Before the existence of the Undergraduate Finance Board, the Student Activities Fund was allocated by both the Student Union and the Undergraduate Council of Students. These two bodies budgeted independently, requiring student groups to apply to not one but two bodies in order to fund raise. There arose, in the complex budgeting process, numerous problems with this system. According to the Report of the Budget Process Review Committee, the past structure "impede[d] communication, compromise[d] consistency, create[d] confusion, and splinter[ed] accountability."
Lack of communication led to inconsistent budgeting decisions. The two bodies were forced to look at a tiny part of the whole picture, leading to groundless allocations. Groups had to go back and forth between the Student Union and UCS because each was more concerned about the other's accountability than its own; sometimes, groups would be accidentally funded twice or not at all. According to the original proposal for the creation of UFB, "The right hand [knew] not the actions of the left."
The Undergraduate Finance Board was created on November 26, 1984, as a joint agreement between the Undergraduate Council of Students and the Student Union. It was intended to be "A Central Budget Group," according to the original proposal, and has continued to retain that original purpose. All members of the Undergraduate Finance Board are undergraduate students at Brown University, ensuring that the students' money is in student hands.
When first created, the Undergraduate Finance Board was effectively governed and organized as a branch of the Undergraduate Council of Students, but over time, UFB grew into its own branch of Student Government. Once the Student Government Association was officially formed in 2021, UFB was officially recognized as a co-equal member of the association, with its own independent rules, mandate, and mission.
You can learn more about the history of UFB by visiting the statements archive: