The Student Services Finance Committee unanimously approved UW-Madison’s Recreational Sports’ budget proposal Wednesday, much of which will be used to renovate and expand the Southeast Recreational Facility. SSFC also held the budget hearing for University Health Services.
UW Recreational Sports initially requested $1,435,000 for the 2002-03 school year, but the group’s representative, Ryan Nichols, asked the committee to add an additional $35,000 to the budget to fund the purchase of three new pieces of exercise equipment for the Shell and club sports operations. SSFC denied the motion.
UW’s Recreational Sports Administrative Assistant, Terry Virlee, was pleased with the committee’s final decision.
“I think [SSFC] made a good decision,” Virlee said. “And I think that not granting money [for equipment for] the Shell is appropriate. The director of the facility has discretion within the existing budget to make purchases. If it’s a fee[-collecting] facility and you can raise the money, why raise segregated fees for students?”
Kathy Poi, UHS executive director, and Ferdinand Schlapper, director for administrative services, appeared before SSFC with the UHS budget, asking for almost $9 million of segregated fees money to help meet the budgetary needs for the 2002-03 school year.
This amount — $8,796,900 — was a 4.4 percent increase over the current year’s budget, which costs each student approximately $114.90 per semester.
Schlapper told SSFC this was a very small increase.
“We always pride ourselves on the fact that our budget has no excess,” he said.
Poi said the money was necessary due to the large number of students who utilize the various services provided by UHS.
“In any given year, about 50 percent of the student body seeks health services,” Poi said. “Probably 80 percent of students use the health and counseling services at some point while on campus.”
Poi told SSFC approximately 76 percent of students utilizing UHS were looking for health-care services, while the other 24 percent were looking for counseling services.
In other business at the meeting, Student Judiciary withdrew its appeal of the reduction of stipends for Associate Justices.
SSFC will meet next Monday to make the budget decision for UHS.
