CU Boulder students Natalie Vroman and John Masulit pose for photo in the CUSG office in the University Memorial Center on Feb. 9, 2026. (Camryn Montgomery/CU Independent)
A new canvas page will be launched to the University of Colorado Boulder student body as a part of the CU Boulder Student Government’s Transparency and Literacy Project. The project, led by one of the student body presidents, John Masulit, aims to increase transparency of operations and CUSG’s management of the roughly $35 million budget collected from student fees.
Masulit, who serves as CUSG’s Internal Affairs Executive, said the need to increase transparency in CUSG’s work came from feedback from the student body as well as his own desires to increase engagement and promote shared governance. He hopes the page will launch to all CU Boulder students in late February or early March.
“I really hope that this helps with the democratic participation with the actual administration of our university in order to make sure the things that our university is doing is in line with the interests of the student body, with the interests of our democracy, and with the interests of the future of our campus in mind,” said Masulit.
The new canvas page, engineered by CUSG Internal Executive Aide Natalie Vroman, features contact information for the three student body presidents, legislative council president and the chief justice linked to the homepage as well as a welcome letter detailing the role of CUSG and management of the $35 million budget.
“This is a catch-all for the students where if they have any problem, they can email us, and we can give them at least a little bit of direction on where to go,” said Masulit.
Throughout the page, students can navigate through the modules to find more information relating to the budgeting process for the various cost centers that CUSG oversees and finances.
CUSG oversees 11 cost centers at the University including the Recreation Center, University Memorial Center, the Center for Student Involvement, and the Environmental Center, among others.
CUSG’s $35 million budget comes solely from the Student Activity Fee collected each semester from enrolled undergraduate and graduate students at the university. The Student Activity Fee varies depending on when students entered the University, as it has been raised slightly each year, but averages around $322.00.
“In reality, we all pitch into all these cost centers, so everyone should have the benefit of knowing what they are and having oversight over that,” said Masulit.
The biggest university cost center, the Recreation Center, receives $12 million from CUSG’s budget. Smaller cost centers like KVCU Radio 1190 receive roughly $126,000.
The Cultural Events Board receives roughly $500,000. The board aims to uplift underrepresented and misrepresented student groups on campus through promoting their own events and “cultural connections projects,” as well as funding other student groups to put on events that are culturally relevant and bring educational components to campus.
CEB chair Morgan McDonough said one of the most recent events they helped fund was the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association’s Lunar New Year celebration. McDonough said the event featured guest speaker Richard Lee, dragon dancers, trivia and Asian cuisine and desserts.
“That’s just one example of an event that students can go and enjoy and take something away from,” said McDonough. “Then students from that community can also go and have a space to celebrate that type of tradition, even if they’re away from home or not with their family.”
In 2025, the Distinguished Speakers Board, which received $151,612, hosted actor and director Giancarlo Esposito, as well as former NASA astronaut and NFL player Leland Melvin on the CU Boulder campus.
DSB’s mission is to bring “renowned voices to CU Boulder to spark ideas, challenge perspectives, and build campus conversation,” according to their website.
Masulit said while much of this information was already available online, navigating through the various cost center subpages made the information less readily accessible to students. By centralizing it into one medium, Masulit hopes students can quickly see directly where their money is going and engage with CUSG representatives about campus policies and governance.
“I think it’s going to foster a lot of long-term engagement with students who want to have more oversight over where their money is going, who want to make policy decisions about the cost centers, who want to talk to administrators about the problems that they’re having,” said Masulit.
Masulit emphasized that the more engagement students have with the university, the more likely they are to graduate and participate in extracurricular activities. McDonough shared a similar sentiment, echoing how student boards and organizations give opportunities for students to participate in shaping their college experience.
“Our country was founded on democracy, and democracy exists at every level, whether that’s the federal government, all the way down to your local university student government,” Masulit said, “So I really want the students to take away from this that civic engagement is an important part of not just their university experience, but also their life.”
Contact CU Independent Assistant News Editor at camryn.montgomery@colorado.edu.
