A committee of the University of Wisconsin student government approved the budget for F.H. King Students for Sustainable Agriculture and heard a budget presentation from Campus Women’s Center at their meeting Thursday.
The Associated Students of Madison Student Services Finance Committee approved the fiscal year 2014-’15 budget for F.H. King by a vote f 10-1. F.H. King Students is a student run organization that focuses on connecting University of Wisconsin students with food, land and the surrounding UW community through various workshops, Parker Jones, former finance director of F.H. King, said.
During the debate, SSFC members increased the hourly pay of the Garden Director, and established additional positions within F.H. King including an Education Coordinator, and Program Director.
SSFC also heard the Campus Women’s Center budget proposal for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Representatives from the CWC said they work to confront the multiple oppressions that women identified individuals face. Representatives said their mission is to educate the campus on these oppressions, while providing them with workshops and services that embody their goal.
The CWC asked for a budget of $88,635.70 for the new fiscal year, which is a $20,000 decrease from their proposed budget of the previous year and $300 less than what they originally applied for.
CWC representatives said the majority of the money would go towards promoting the CWC, with $4000 being allotted for “miscellaneous” advertisement expenses. The organization intends to spend this money on toner, printer paper, ink, computers, and the yearly maintenance of the CWC website, they said.
“Effective advertising will significantly increase attendance, and allow students to take better advantages of the services we provide,” Yier Yin, finance coordinator of the CWC, said.
After members of SSFC expressed concern over the allocation of $4,000 for the miscellaneous expenses, the CWC offered more details on their efforts to gain recognition, including passing out fanny packs to students, buying an advertisement in the student planner and promoting themselves through campaigns on Facebook.
“Our group has been very restricted to pamphlets and flyers, but with additional funding we want to be able to appeal to a wider audience and get more students involved,” Yin said after SSFC Rep. Brett Ducharme questioned whether increasing CWC’s advertising budget was warranted.
Yin said they plan to fund events such as guest speakers and programs such as “Stop Rethink Speak,” which educates students on cyber-bullying, and “Kids Time,” which connects student volunteers with student families to provide three hours of childcare every week. Yin said they plan to allocate $8,000 for guest speakers, and $1,000 for three Facebook campaigns per semester.
SSFC will meet on Monday to determine the budget for the CWC and hold a budget hearing for the Student Leadership Program.
