The Undergraduate Council has found itself strikingly short of funds this fall due to years of inadequate accounting measures, Council Treasurer Edward B. Smith III '97 said yesterday.

The council's Campus Life and Student Affairs committees are now operating with about $15,000, less than half of what was expected.

Previous commitments, including the Freshman Formal, will temporarily tie up much of the council's remaining funds, potentially lowering the committees' operating budget to as low as $5,000.

"It's tight," Smith said. "It makes us all nervous, but I think it will be all right."

According to Smith, much better accounting by the council in the last two semesters will prevent this kind of shortage from happening again.

"We're just going to have to suck it up this year, but we should be OK in the future," Smith said.

Smith estimated an additional $5,000 will be collected in December from uncollected grants allocated to student organizations last spring.

The council will also receive term bill fees of $1,000 to $2,000 from students who enroll at midyear, Smith said.

These incomes and other expected miscellaneous funds will amount to approximately $10,000. Additional revenues collected from the Freshman Formal will leave the council with a total of about $20,000 until the end of the year.

Administrators did not seem worried about the council's finances yesterday.

But according to Assistant Dean of Students Sarah Flatley, the administration is seeking to increase financial accountability for all student groups, which are currently required to submit budgets to the administration every year.

"We've been working with all student groups to have better reporting practices," Flatley said. "We've brought in outside consultants to teach student groups how to provide better accounting."

According to Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '67, the council does receive some additional scrutiny because of its large budget.

Flatley said the council's budget last year was "pretty detailed."

Poor Accounting

Smith said the council has a funding shortage because past treasurers essentially failed to balance the council's checkbook.