Tuesday, the Student Services Finance Committee approved the Campus Women’s Center budget for the 2022 fiscal year and held budget and eligibility hearings for Dreamers of UW Madison.
SSFC approved eligibility for the Campus Women’s Center, which provides resources to women on campus. The committee also approved the organization’s budget, but made amendments that accounted for a 10% decrease from what they had requested.
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During the CWC’s budget decision hearing, SSFC Vice Chair Grace D’Souza raised concerns about a difference between the organization’s low programming spending while also overspending on salaries.
“Programming dollars and salary dollars need to be consistent with each other, and I noticed a pattern of strictly salaries being spent and no programming dollars being spent,” D’Souza said. “That’s kind of a red flag for me.”
Founded in April of 2016, Dreamers is a student organization whose purpose is to educate the broader campus community about the lack of financial, educational and mental health resources available to undocumented students in higher education, the organization’s president Cristhabel Martinez said.
According to their website, the organization also seeks to advocate for and provide resources to undocumented and DACA students.
This is the first year that the organization has applied for General Student Services Funds.
Dreamer’s co-president Cesar Martinez Jr. said the organization hopes to fundraise $100,000 this year towards an undocumented student scholarship. Undocumented students must pay out-of-state tuition at the University Wisconsin ever since Gov. Scott Walker ended a program that had allowed them eligibility for in-state tuition.
The SSFC postponed Dreamers’ budget decision hearing until Nov. 12. to give the organization time to review their budget with SSFC’s Assistant Director of Financial Services.
SSFC will meet again Thursday Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. on Zoom.
