ASM Conference November 22, 2021 Maggie Degnan /The Badger Herald

The Student Services Finance Committee rejected the Latin Student Union’s request for the status of the General Student Services Fund, and on Monday heard the University of Wisconsin’s budget proposal for awareness raising and victim empowerment (also known as PAVE).

With six votes against, three abstentions, and one yes, the Latin Student Association failed to obtain enough votes to meet the eligibility criteria of the General Student Services Fund. The SSFC does not grant the Latin Student Union (also known as LSU) general student service fund status for fiscal year 2023.

The General Student Services Fund Status, or GSSF, organizations are allowed to use supplies and salary funds as a means of disseminating their services and programs on campus. There are currently 15 student organizations that obtain GSSF qualifications in the 2021-22 academic year.

The Latin Student Union requested funding for future courses at the SSFC meeting. The Latin Student Union reviewed its budget request as a new general student service fund applicant at the Student Services Office. Read...

"One of my concerns is that the programs provided are similar to those provided by other campus spaces," said Vice Chairperson Rianna Mukherjee when voting against the decision to grant LSU General Student Services Fund status.

LSU Principal Amari Rios and Treasurer Magdalena Guerrero submitted to SSFC the budget application of LSU as a new General Student Service Fund applicant on November 18.

The organization requires LSU executive board members to have a total salary of US$24,187.50 in 2022-2023. The student organization also requested funding for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead celebration) and professional development seminars open to individuals outside the Washington University community. 

On behalf of Mukherjee, Kevin Jacobson, Rachel Liang, Andrew Pietroske, Steven Shi, David Vargas and SSFC Sec. Erin Tritz had the majority and voted against the LSU application. 

Later in the meeting, representatives from PAVE submitted the organization's budget to the committee. Chairman Jessica Melnik and Finance Office Coordinator Anthony Chambers have a total bonus of US$73,079.50.

SSFC members settled after being accused of discriminating against the Muslim Student Association. After a controversial debate on the funding of the Muslim Student Association on Monday, a member of the Student Services Finance Committee apologized. Reading...

Chambers emphasized the importance of analyzing the budget returns for the first two years in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the 20th fiscal year, we returned 22.4% of our wages. As we shifted to virtual formats, our employee engagement was greatly reduced,” Chambers said. "The budget line cannot be spent as expected."

Chambers said that in the 2021 fiscal year, all PAVE employees have graduated, and there was only one employee left at the beginning of the year.

Chambers stated that PAVE hopes to understand the resources allocated and ensure that it is efficient and provides programs that are most suitable for the use of the resources of the student body.

With this goal in mind, the organization is changing its campus bus campaign, peer education for multicultural keynote speakers, media outreach and awareness speakers, and reducing the total salary budget.

SSFC proposes to modify the budget appropriation rules. The Student Services Finance Committee will hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the budget and financial needs of each club, and read...

Delegates will meet after the Thanksgiving holiday to vote on the eligibility of PAVE's General Student Services Fund for fiscal year 2023.

This article was published at 10:08 pm on November 22, 2021, and was last updated at 10:08 pm on November 22, 2021

Your email address will not be published. Required places have been marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time you comment.

University of Wisconsin-Madison's premier independent student newspaper

All content © The Badger Herald, 1995-2021