Associated Students of Madison unanimously approved a resolution in support of the controversial Human Resources Redesign project as well as passed the 2013-14 ASM Internal Budget at its meeting Wednesday.
The HR Redesign project resolution supports the implementation of the new HR plan with the added stipulation that students will continue to be recognized in the decision-making process and that any final plan be presented to Student Council.
Student Council Rep. David Gardner said student involvement was critical in passing the project because students have been “sidestepped” in the process so far.
“We made it very clear that students’ shared governance rights need to be taken into account in these decisions,” Gardner said. “That’s a condition of our supporting the plan.”
Additionally, ASM approved the 2013-14 ASM Internal Budget Wednesday after council representatives proposed several amendments to the budget after the Student Services Finance Committee made cuts to it last week.
Student Council Rep. Kyle Rak proposed an amendment to increase travel grant funding for student organizations by $40,000, following cuts made by SSFC. The amendment passed, bringing total funding for travel grants to $120,000.
Members of Model United Nations spoke in open forum about the importance of travel grants, which help fund travel to events and conferences for many student organizations on campus.
According to representatives from Model UN, the group has consistently dealt with insufficient travel funding from ASM, causing it to cut the number of members able to attend conferences.
Student Council Rep. Nurys Uceta said she supported the additional funding because traveling expands learning opportunities for students.
“Students get more benefit from traveling internationally and meeting people outside of our campus community,” Uceta said. “Those students can then bring back their experiences to our already diverse campus.”
