The Orientation Roundtable (ORT) budget sees a $200,000 decrease from last year.
ORT is responsible for organizing and running all faculty society orientations. The commission, run in the AMS’s University Affairs portfolio, brought their budget for 2025-26 to Assembly on March 24 for approval, with ORT Coordinator Ali Haider, HealthSci ’26, at the helm. ORT’s has undergone structural changes for next year, including the removal of the ORT Mystery Concert to the Campus Affairs Commission.
Last year, the total budgeted expenses for orientation totalled $629,060, with this years budgeted expenses decreasing by $218,560 to $410,500. This year’s budget decrease can largely be attributed to the removal of the ORT Mystery Concert, which contributed $242,100 in revenue and expenses last year.
In an interview with The Journal, Haider outlined ORT’s primary sources of revenue, divided into three categories. These include $240,000 from fees incoming students choose to pay to participate in Orientation—roughly $40 per student—$138,000 from Assembly, paid through student fees, and $32,500 from sponsors, which are typically local business like Amey’s Taxi and Poparide, totaling $410,500 in projected revenue.
On the expense side, uniforms represent the largest cost, totaling $100,000. Other notable expenses include $109,600 for salaries and wages, and $55,000 for fundraising and event services, which saw a budget increase of over $50,000 from last year.
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According to Haider, this $55,000 change was made to fall in line with what actually happened in last year’s Orientation. Although ORT initially budgeted only $4,760 for events and services—covering items like kit bags and water bottles—they ended up spending $53,000. To prevent a repeat of this issue, Haider has based this year’s budget largely on last year’s actual spending rather than the original budgeted figures.
“What I focused on was the actual amounts they spent on each of the categories last year […] I tried to keep it in line with what actually happened [last year],” Haider said.
This rationale also s for a $10,000 budget increase for room rentals used to host events this year compared to last year, as the former team budgeted $35,000 but ended up spending $45,000.
“There’s a lot of last-minute room bookings with Orientation. Something happens to a room, some booking gets canceled, and you need to pay money to be able to get a new location,” Haider said.
For Haider, Orientation, isn’t just for first years, it’s for the entire community.
“If we’re able to make sure that training runs well and we have great supplies and great staff ing us, it makes Orientation better for everyone.”
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