Mark Champagne

Mark sharing a laugh during an ASUCD Budget hearing (2005).

Mark Champagne is the "business manager" of ASUCD. What this means is that he is the highest ranking university employee in ASUCD. (official webpage) Mark has been managing business operations since 1981 for ASUCD, and offers both advice and oversight for student government operations.

In ASUCD you have students, who are usually "at-will" employees who may technically be fired on a whim (but the day the University fires an ASUCD President "on a whim" is the day they get themselves sued); and you have career employees who are subject to university union contracts, are not students, and as such your elected officials couldn't fire them for any reason. Mark is the department head of both.

As the Department Head of ASUCD, his primary job is to tell the business units what to do.

UC Policy

U.C. Policy 67.00 
In the discharge of these responsibilities, Chancellors may conduct audits of the finances of student
 governments, exercise control over expenditures of their funds when and to the extent necessary to
 maintain the financial solvency of student governments, and where required may take action to ensure
 that any financial or business activity under the control of student governments is operated in
 accordance with sound business practices and is consistent with legal requirements and University
 policies and procedures.

As ASUCD Business Manager, Mark is involved in the ASUCD budgeting process. He helps the Controller prepare the budget, provides advice on budgetary matters, university policy, etc., acts as Unit Director of ASUCD Administration General during budget hearings, and is part of the ASUCD Management Team (President, VP, Controller, and Mark).

Mark is the only individual authorized to approve ASUCD recharges. Additionally, he is the only person on campus who can approve independent contractor agreements without going though the Business Contracts department.

Fortunately, however, in the opinion of this writer at least, Mark's alignment appears to be basically good.