The Washburn Student Government Association is on an active search to fill the position of WSGA budget director, as current director Kevin Nincehelser makes plans to travel to the Philippines to study abroad for the spring semester.

Fliers, banners and Facebook notifications have all been utilized in hopes of attracting students to fill out applications for the position. Nincehelser and WSGA president Whitney Philippi have also been in contact with professors from the School of Business to target students who are likely to be qualified and interested.

So far, the search to fill the position has not been as successful as WSGA members had hoped.

“It is a poor time to hire on campus due to the stress and pace of the last four weeks of the semester,” said Nincehelser. “There has not been a flood of interest so far. I believe that this is mainly due to the high expectations and high level of difficulty that this job entails.”

Nincehelser also said the compensation for the position is not monetarily significant, and the reward comes in the form of valuable experience and having the power to create change. Those qualities are more difficult to market than an hourly wage.

The duties of budget director are extensive, requiring the individual to log 20 hours per week. According to Nincehelser, responsibilities include creating the WSGA budget, paying bills, data-entry, submitting account transfers and payment vouchers, auditing and reconciling accounts and creating and presenting budget reports. The director is also required to deal directly with student organizations and their advisors, submit payroll for the WSGA executive staff, attend all WSGA and Allocations Committee meetings and advise the WSGA Senate and Allocations Committee on issues related to fund management.

“I would just advise my successor to treat the WSGA Budget as if it was their own personal budget because it literally is,” said Nincehelser on the best way to handle director duties. “The budget director pays the same Student Activity Fee as every other Washburn student. The difference between the two is that the budget director has the ability to help dictate where and how it is used.”

The application for the position requires that the applicant have strong organizational skills, proficient computer skills, ability to work effectively and positively in a team environment, and excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills. Nincehelser also emphasized the ability to learn quickly because of the massive learning curve that this job entails.

“I love my job. It is bittersweet to leave after accomplishing so much and having the amazing opportunity to work with the people that I do,” said Nincehelser. “But this mission trip is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I just cannot turn down. I look forward to seeing all of the great things that the Philippi/Billinger Administration will accomplish while I’m gone.”