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Committee hears proposal from UHS
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by Jaime Wright
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
The Student Services Finance Committee scrutinized the budgets presented by Associated Students of Madison Bus Pass Program and University Health Services during their Monday night meeting at the Memorial Union.
The Bus Pass Program requested $2 million for 2005-06 budget in student segregated fees to cover their contract with Madison Metro. Students are required to pay hundreds of dollars in segregated fees every semester in order to fund student organizations and services.
This would be an increase of approximately $1.7 million from the 2004-05 budget.
SSFC has the choice of fully funding the bus pass program, funding a portion of the program and leaving the rest to be paid by another organization or not funding the program at all.
Presenters of the program’s budget urged the student officials to fulfill the entire request.
“The program is beneficial to students, the university community and the community as a whole and should be continued,” said ASM Bus Pass Coordinator Margaret Bergamini.
The ASM Bus Pass Program provides bus passes, paid for by segregated fees, which can be used to travel around the city of Madison.
“The program receives enormous support from the student body. About 60 percent of students pick up the bus passes provided,” Bergamini said.
Much consideration will be necessary to come to a conclusion on this issue, according to SSFC Chair Janelle Wise.
“The Bus Pass Program is a complicated issue,” Wise said.
Bergamini said she feels very strongly about the program and its benefits to students, pointing out that many students take advantage of this form of transportation.
“There needs to be an alternative for students without cars or parking spaces on campus,” she said.
The UHS budget was also discussed at the meeting.
In the 2004-05 budget, UHS received approximately $9.4 million. Due to the inflated cost of supplies, UHS requested $9.9 million for the 2005-06 budget.
“This proposal is not for any additional program costs,” Kathleen Poi, executive director of UHS Administrative Services, said. “It is strictly maintenance of current services.”
Director of Administrative Services Dwayne Sackman said UHS had made an effort to keep costs minimal. However, current funds are decreasing.
“We’ve been trying to hold down health fees by using reserve funds as requested by the UW administration, but those are now depleted,” Sackman said.
UHS provides prevention services, physical health services and counseling to UW students.
After presenting their budget requests, UHS representatives were asked numerous questions about the proposed budgets by SSFC members who wished to gain further understanding of the plan’s implications.
However, UHS’s budget cannot be altered by the student finance body as most other groups’ budgets can. Due to the non-allocable designation UHS holds, SSFC can only make recommended changes to the request.
“We can’t really change any of the proposed numbers. If a committee member disagrees with anything in the budget plans they can draw up a draft proposal, which is debated, voted on and then brought to the chancellor for final decisions,” Wise said.
SSFC did not finalize the proposed budget increases and will reconvene Thursday to give their final word.
Anonymous (February 15, 2005 @ 2:27pm):
Two things -
1) Where did SSFC get all those attractive members?
2) The fact that the bus pass is a good thing has nothing to do with whether the proposed contract is a good deal. Metro has always tried to use the popularity of the program as a bargaining chip to increase the cost.
Anonymous (February 16, 2005 @ 12:43pm):
Isn't the blonde girl in that photo hott?!
