Increasing UC Financial Transparency

The Undergraduate Council’s new grant processing platform, “nova”, suffered a hacking attempt last week, drawing attention to their new software and its potential impact on Harvard student life. Fortunately, the hacking attempt was unsuccessful, demonstrating the robustness of the system. We certainly encourage the UC to continue to enhance the online security of its platforms, especially for software like nova that involves budgetary decisions and that has already processed as many as 111 student group applications in its inaugural semester. More importantly, however, the UC's decision to use a more transparent grants software holds numerous benefits for campus life.

We applaud the Council for their efforts to streamline the grant application process. This monetary support is vital to efforts to foster an inclusive and diverse range of thriving extracurriculars on campus. In the ongoing dialogue surrounding Harvard’s social scene, often criticized as exclusive and difficult to navigate, placing more emphasis on student organizations will only improve students' experiences.

Harvard groups enable students of similar cultural backgrounds to feel at home on an occasionally overwhelming campus. They encourage students with different political opinions to speak freely and respectfully. They bring together students of different faiths and build common ground. Protecting and advancing these clubs is in the general interest of all Harvard undergraduates: student groups are invaluable not only for the opportunities they provide for professional and academic development, but also for the tight-knit communities they build.

Measures to reform the application process and increase transparency to these organizations will enable them to better utilize the grants and increase the number of students benefitting from the College's resources. Students are now able to track their application’s process online—an improvement we wholeheartedly welcome. Further efforts to increase transparency may include more detailed updates to the student body on where funding is allocated and how grant decisions are reached.

We hope the UC will continue their work aiding student groups and providing them with financial support. While such reforms are not particularly glamorous, this type of work is a paradigm of how student government should function. Improving the grant application process is not a grand, abstract promise that can serve as a campaign slogan, but these small, concrete reforms provide a direct benefit to the student experience.