The first elections for a new University of Wisconsin School of Business student government will be held this week focusing on student life.

The Wisconsin Business Student Collaborative will work to give students input on Business School faculty and curriculum, said co-founder of WBSC and chair of the Associated Students of Madison Finance Committee Chair Matt Beemsterboer.

In an e-mail to The Badger Herald, Beemsterboer said he and co-founder Joe Antolik worked nine months to reconstruct the WBSC.

Both were officials on the Undergraduate Business Leadership Council, the student government WBSC is replacing.

The committee will consist of a president and three vice presidents for finance, administration and programming. Pre-business students, sophomores, juniors and seniors will each have two representatives.

WBSC looks to shift from a focus on student organizations to student life, Beemsterboer said.

He said there are approximately 31 student organizations affiliated with the business school and he hopes instead of regulation, WBSC can foster cooperation and a sense of community.

Beemsterboer said UBLC was formerly a policing agency, which made sure business school student organizations were following the mission of the business school.

“We were kind of frustrated with the lack of interest,” Antolik said.

Antolik, who is running unopposed for vice president of administration, hopes the apathy that came with the old government’s mandatory meetings for each student organization in the UBLC will dissolve with elected members who want to be involved.

Cody Candee, running unopposed in the election for vice president of finance, said he accepts the challenge that comes with laying the groundwork for a new student organization.

Making sure conference services and rates are fair is an important issue for Candee, who wants to lower the cost of renting services when business student organizations rent rooms in Grainger Hall.

Currently, student organizations that rent rooms in Grainger are not allowed to bring outside food and must facilitate catering services if they want food at all, Candee said.

The cost of renting a room with Internet and a projector is high, and Candee hopes to change this.

A major goal of the semester, Antolik said, will be to solidify the structure of the organization. He also hopes WBSC can facilitate a textbook swap for business students.

Antolik added the student government will look into textbook renting options.

The business school is not the only college with its own student government, and Antolik hopes the WBSC can collaborate and build a sense of community between the groups, citing the School of Engineering’s student council — Polygon — specifically.

While Beemsterboer is a member of ASM, co-founder of WBSC and running for WBSC president, Antilock says WBSC is independent of the other student government’s influence.

The elections are available to all students, but only pre-business and business school students can be elected, Beemsterboer said. The elections will be held Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Grainger Hall in the West Atrium.