The Student Services Finance Committee held a meeting Monday to discuss the budgetary and financial needs of various clubs and organizations at the University of Wisconsin.
SSFC representatives discussed a proposed resolution to establish a Mental Health Services Advisory Board. According to the official resolution document, the newly established panel will advise both University Health Services and the Director of Mental Health Services on campus.
The Advisory Board is set to be comprised of 20 members, including 10 UW students, two SSFC members and five at-large representatives to be appointed by the Shared Governance Committee.
SSFC then voted to cut the number of at-large representatives from five down to three after the Committee Chair Jordan Pasbrig said the current number of board members was excessive and a financial hindrance.
SSFC creates mental health board, approves Badger Catholics budget
“It felt like having five at-large representatives was a little much,” Pasbrig said. “There was no material benefit to having five instead of three.”
SSFC then discussed its current policies and procedures, dissecting its budget limitation policies for General Student Services Fund groups on campus.
Pasbrig suggested SSFC eliminate hard budget caps on GSSF groups, to which Representative Logan Knochenmus proposed combining the current $120,000 funding cap for GSSF groups and the $65,000 cap on professional costs into a single $185,000 cap.
The discussion shifted to discrepancies related to the amount of funding various GSSF’s may need based on the size of their staff.
SSFC Secretary Grace D’Suoza said smaller GSSF groups have an unfair advantage over larger organizations. D’Souza said small groups could hypothetically spend nearly their entire budget on salaries and not surpass current funding limitations, whereas large GSSF’s must allocate far more funding to salaries.
SSFC creates mental health board, approves Badger Catholics budget
SSFC then discussed adjusting budget caps to meet the employment needs of each GSSF, but said there is a possibility organizations may exaggerate their staffing needs to acquire more funding.
SSFC will meet March 23 to enact discussed changes to budget policies.
