Members of student government appointed representatives to a new body Thursday that will determine how student internship services will be implemented on campus.
In a Student Services Finance Committee meeting, members voted to appoint three internal members to the Procurement Board for the Student Internship Service. The body will determine the manner in which internship services are executed under the Campus Services Process.
The board will also contract out to groups to bid to provide the service, according to SSFC Chair Sarah Neibart.
During the meeting, members voted through a secret ballot to appoint SSFC Secretary Ellie Bruecker, Rep. Joe Vanden Avond and Rep. Weijie Huan as the three SSFC representatives to the board, which will also include Neibart.
Bruecker said as a member of the board she would like to focus on assessing what currently exists in the area of internship services on campus and try to consolidate them.
Vanden Avond said he felt it will be a good opportunity to become involved in more ASM roles, and Huan said, as an international student, he will bring a unique perspective.
Huan said he is familiar with the problems international students face. He said it can be difficult for international students hunting for jobs and internships because interviewers can view an international student’s accent as a barrier.
“There are a lot of people like me on this campus trying to find internships, and as an international student I will try to make this program beneficial to all students,” Huan said.
SSFC also discussed the College Student Government Fund, a piece of legislation brought to the committee by Rep. Ron Crandall. He said the goal of the legislation is to provide funding to college student governments on campus for the facilitation of programming that fits the interests of students in that college.
“There’s a lot of reasons for having a separate fund,” he said. “The primary reason is for improving shared governance within the colleges’ committees.”
Crandall also said a problem with the current system is that many events and programs have to be funded through large out-of-pocket donations from members.
The committee also passed the 2012-13 fiscal year budget of $61,048.40 for Supporting Peers in Laid-Back Listening, a student organization that provides an online anonymous peer-based support system for students.
Revisions to SPILL’s proposed budget included adding a sunset clause to remove a salaried employee upon the group’s attainment of updated software. Doing so, the group said, would avoid having unnecessary work by employees.
In addition, two groups presented their 2012-13 budgets to SSFC for evaluation. Adventure Learning Programs, a student group that provides team-building exercises for students, presented its budget of $150,567.64 for the next fiscal year.
Campus Women’s Center, which provides support services focused on women’s issues to campus, also presented its budget proposal of $109,778 to the committee. In 2009, the Campus Women’s Center was embroiled in a fight for funding that they ultimately lost. None of the presenters at the meeting brought this up to the current SSFC.
SSFC will reach a decision on ALP’s budget during Monday’s meeting and on the CWC’s budget next Thursday.
