The Student Services Finance Committee approved the budget for the Student Leadership Program and also heard the budgets for Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment and the MultiCultural Student Coalition Monday night.
SSFC cut the SLP’s proposed budget of $75,340 to $66,108 and passed it 6-0, with two members abstaining.
“I’m in support of these programs, and I’d like to congratulate the Student Leadership Program for what I think is a fiscally responsible budget,” SSFC Rep. Carl Fergus said.
The largest cuts to the SLP budget came from the group’s retreats and food for the group’s All-Campus Leadership Conference.
SSFC decided to not fund food for the All-Campus Leadership Conference on grounds that food is available on-site at Memorial Union.
“I was pretty disappointed about the food for (the All-Campus Leadership) Conference,” SLP Financial Outreach Coordinator Susan Tran said. “We do expect about 1,000 students to attend, and that does not accommodate for that many students to stand in line and wait for food [at the Union].”
SSFC’s cuts to the retreat funding were based on questions members had about the value of holding retreats off-campus when holding them on campus could potentially open the events up to more people, thus being more of a direct service to students.
SLP Financial Coordinator Stephanie Bergren said the group has not been able to hold retreats on campus in the past because it could not obtain space overnight, especially through the Union’s program.
“It’s going to make it a little difficult for us to host our retreat,” Bergren said. “We’ll have to just make adjustments to our budget in the future.”
SSFC also heard the budget for PAVE, which requested a total of $81,255 to fund programming, which included increases in staff salaries, the expansion of the Madison Metro bus ad campaign promoting awareness of alcohol-facilitated sexual assault, increases in the peer education program and other services.
MCSC presented its budget as well, requesting $296,952 in funding, which included increased funds for more speakers, increases in salaries, continuation of the cultural expression Pride on the Move event and funding for Hip-Hop as a Movement Week.
SSFC Secretary Matthew Manes questioned MCSC’s budget, noting to members in their previous budget there was “not a single line of budget that you have not overspent on.”
MCSC Leadership Development Specialist Shyla Gorham said the move to the Student Activity Center resulted in anomalies in the budget that will not occur in the future.
Gorham added the services MCSC provides to students of color at UW are essential, adding, “I think it’s really important to have that support system on campus.”
SSFC will make the final decision for MCSC’s budget, one of the largest student organization budget’s requested on campus, as well as the decision for PAVE’s budget Thursday.
