A University of Wisconsin student government committee presented amendments to its bylaws Thursday evening that deal with student organizations’ budgets.
The Student Services Finance Committee went through changes to rules outlining monetary caps on organizations’ annual expenses.
SSFC Chair Ellie Bruecker’s proposed changes were met with some backlash from the General Student Services Fund organizations, who receive all of their funding from SSFC-allocated money.
The amended Standing Rules capped every GSSF budget at $100,000, excluding costs for professional staff, though additional money for such staff was capped at $75,000.
Bruecker said in order to reach these figures, she examined the budgets of all 16 GSSF groups and tried to find the general average spending trend, keeping in mind the potential for the smaller organizations to grow with a larger budget. She said the goal was to keep the figure as close to the status quo as possible, but recognized the need to cut some spending to avoid waste.
Bruecker altered her previous amendments to costs for GSSF events and travel, changing the cap on events to $15,000 and the cap on travel to $5,000. These figures were previously percentages of the groups’ total budgets, and Bruecker said changing them to dollar amounts allows for more flexibility in spending.
She further changed the cap on costs for student hourly positions from $50,000 to $60,000, after student representatives voiced concern over the former number during the meeting’s open forum.
Student Leadership Program Financial Coordinator Troy Henkel objected to the $15,000 event cap, requesting SSFC change it to $20,000 to accommodate to the organization’s all campus leadership conference. He agreed with Bruecker’s $100,000 cap on GSSF organization budgets, however, commending it as a decent amount to increase eligibility for student services.
UW Adventure Learning Programs facilitator Nathan Smolek objected to the cap on student salaries, arguing it would force the group to cut back on trained employees and limit anticipated growth.
Bruecker addressed student accussations that amending the bylaws was not a collaborative process, asserting she had persistently emailed several student organizations several times and received minimal responses.
“I’m incredibly disappointed with the lack of response,” Bruecker said “Especially to see the amount of unhappiness. I did the best I could to reach as many people as possible.”
The amendment preventing GSSF groups from receiving a budget representing an increase of more than 3 percent from the pervious fiscal year was also met with much objection. Several student representatives said this measure would, in a way, force groups to spend all of their budget so they would be able to get it back the following fiscal year.
Bruecker amended this figure to 5 percent and clarified that it does not apply to new groups or groups that were minimally funded the previous year, but said it is a rule open to discussion.
The meeting adjourned and will reconvene next Thursday to vote on the standing rules.
