The Associated Students of Madison’s Student Services Finance Committee approved the budget for the Greater University Tutoring Service for fiscal year 2014-2015 and also heard a budget presentation for MeCHA in their Monday meeting.

MeCHA budget hearing

After using only 46 percent of their approved budget in the 2012-2013 fiscal year, MeCHA requested a budget of $95,219.00 for fiscal year 2014-2015, a decrease of about $64,000 from last year.

Last year, MeCHA moved into a new space after their building on University Avenue was demolished, but there were safety concerns after lead and asbestos were found in their new space in February, Alberto Cuevas, a MeCHA coordinator, said.

Due to these issues, representatives said MeCHA struggled with space concerns to fulfill their direct services.

MeCHA requested a budget increase for the CulturArte program due to an increase in demand, along with more money for new computer software. The organization also requested additional money to attend the national conference and their opening event, La Bienvenida.

MeCHA returned unspent money from salaries, advertising, computer hardware, equipment and office supplies, CulturArte, the fall retreat, national conference, regionals, printing, outreach and Mes Xicano, citing renovations and a lack of space as reasons they were unable to use their budget as originally planned.

Mervin Gutierrez, a MeCHA coordinator, said last year presented “extreme circumstances” in terms of transition and space, but things were now returning to normal.

Although SSFC Rep. Brett Ducharme pointed out MeCHA was cutting their programs from 21 to 9 in total, Nurys Uceta, a MeCHA coordinator, said this was because the group was putting more focus on direct services.

Committee members also raised questions about the national and regional conferences MeCHA attends.

MeCHA is a national organization and having more members attend the national conference allows them to learn various perspectives to bring back to campus, Uceta said. The host covers most of the costs for regional conferences, she said.

In response to inquiries about the differences between supplies and equipment in the budget, Diana Macias, a MeCHA coordinator, said equipment includes longer term investments such as instruments, whereas supplies are items that are more temporary, such as paint, canvases, strings and spray paint.

The budget decision for MeCHA will be Thursday along with a budget hearing for the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group.

Greater University Tutoring Services fully funded for 2014-15

SSFC members voted 8-0-1 to fully fund GUTS at $148,762.06.

Rep. Devon Maier said it was clear the GUTS coordinators had thought the budget through.

Rep. Michael Babcock agreed, adding he could tell the coordinators were trying to be as fiscally responsible as possible and staying within the capped budget.

Although Ducharme expressed concern about sending two people to the national conference, calling it was a “considerable fee,” Maier said sending more than one person to the conference allowed them to get all the benefits of attending.