The Student Services Finance Committee met Monday to discuss and vote on budget proposals for the Student Leadership Program and the ASM Student Judiciary.
The committee voted on the eligibility and budget of the SLP after their presentation last Thursday. SLP’s eligibility was approved with five votes in favor, zero votes against and four abstentions.
Before voting on the proposed budget, SSFC Vice Chair Andrew Pietroske noted that since SLP returned 17.7% of their budget last year, they need at least ¾ of the committee to vote in favor of passing their budget.
SLP’s budget passed with eight votes in favor, zero votes against and one abstention.
The vote was followed by another presentation from SLP regarding their request to transition to non-allocable funding. Student representatives Katie Chesebro and Bobby Holland presented alongside Center for Leadership & Involvement director Mark Kueppers.
“SLP is a student-run program, but it is also essential to the Center for Leadership and Involvement portfolio,” Kueppers said.
The purpose of the transition to non-allocable funding is to position SLP so it can continue to meet student needs without including more segregated fees, according to Kueppers.
Kueppers acknowledged that there are likely concerns within the committee regarding the transition, such as a loss of direct SSFC oversight and an uncontrolled increase in seg fee funding toward SLP.
“To alleviate these concerns, we would be open to creating a shared, binding document that outlines the Wisconsin Union’s commitment to maintaining SLP as a student-run program and limiting increased seg fee requests for SLP,” Kueppers said.
SSFC Chair Lennox Owino noted at the end of the discussion that there are still a lot of unanswered questions within the committee.
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Next, the Student Judiciary presented its budget proposal. The ASM Student Judiciary oversees ASM elections and solves disputes between ASM and other groups.
According to Chief Justice Tyler Herman, the Student Judiciary hopes to increase turnout in the election this year in order to improve the legitimacy of student government for both students and administration alike.
The SSFC will vote on the budget of the ASM Student Judiciary at their next meeting Nov. 10.
