RPC increases budget
Rice Program Council will see major internal changes this year, starting with a budget increase from $35,000 to $130,000. This budget will cover RPC's expanded roles, including the Passport to Houston program, formerly operated out of the Center for Civic Engagement, planning Homecoming and Willy Week concerts and organizing President David Leebron's and Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman's study breaks. The increase in funding is part of efforts to include student involvement in planning large-scale Rice events and programs, Director of the Student Center Boyd Beckwith said. The three-year-old Passport to Houston program operated out of the President's Office for its first two years and came under the wing of the Center for Civic Engagement last year. In response to the CCE's desire to form a student advisory board for the program, the university instead reassigned the program to the RPC Arts & Entertainment Committee. As a result, the committee's budget increased from $6,000 to $48,000 this year.