The Student Services Finance Committee met Monday to discuss the budgets of the University of Wisconsin’s Adventure Learning Program and the Wisconsin Black Student Union.
The SSFC is responsible for the allocation of segregated fees to student services, activities, programs and facilities. Segregated fees are funds charged to students in addition to tuition, which fund student services.
UW student organization Adventure Learning Programs presented its proposed budget for the fiscal year 2023.
ALPS provides community groups, both affiliated with the university and not, with adventure-based activities that “inspire cooperation and team-building skills.” ALPS adapted their workshops online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they now offer virtual team-building workshops as well as ground activities to low and high ropes courses.
The greatest decreases in the group’s budget included computer software, high ropes courses and the Association of Experiential Education National Conference, according to the presentation by ALPS facilitator Isabelle Johnson.
The first increase to their budget is the AEE Heartland Regional Conference, which was moved to a virtual format during the fiscal year 2022, though is anticipated to be in person for the following year, accounting for the 80% increase in funding for the event.
The second increase is due to the addition of a marketing director position. It is important for ALPS to be able to reach a broad group of people by using strategic social engagement. This is done best through the addition of a marketing director, according to Johnson.
“We want to serve more students and we have the capacity to do it,” Johnson said.
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SSFC also heard from the Wisconsin Black Student Union about their proposed budget for the 2023 fiscal year. The proposed budget remained consistent with this year’s.
The Wisconsin Black Student Union is a student organization involved in enlarging and maintaining the Black student population to aid in diversifying the campus by hosting events and campaigns throughout the year.
The BSU’s events often involve an honorary speaker and a shared dinner, adding up to approximately $7,000 to $8,000. The Black History Month Campaign is hosting an honorary speaker, accounting for $3,800 of their budget.
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A goal of the Activism Campaign is to produce a documentary about the Abraham Lincoln statue on Bascom Hill, accounting for its $2,300 budget, BSU treasurer Terjuan Short said.
The SSFC has yet to vote on either proposed budget. The next meeting will be Thursday, Nov. 11.
