The Associated Students of Madison Coordinating Council met Wednesday evening to discuss a new decision-making model for its food pantry and reflect on the past year.
The food pantry, which opened in February, has been run by ASM Vice Chair Vanessa Studer. She said this year, most decisions have been made by herself and a few ASM employees.
Next year, Studer explained there will be a board comprised of four volunteers, the vice chair and two ASM employees who will meet weekly or biweekly to attend to the pantry’s needs.
When chairs reflected on the year within their committees and as a larger council, there was a group consensus that although the year had been a success, there was more the council could to do to promote connectivity among other committee chairs and student organizations on campus.
Studer stressed the new relationships ASM has created with mental health organizations, voter registration efforts and textbook affordability.
“By creating these partnerships we’ve been able to engage the student body a lot more,” Studer said. “Hopefully something we’ll continue in the future.”
Other chairs, including Recruitment and Retention Coordinator Matt Wulf, emphasized how the committee chairs could support each other in campaigns and projects.
“We need to work together,” Wulf said. “If we unify as the grassroots [group], or even as ASM, we have power.”
Council members said they are making plans to ensure their successors can reach out to more student organizations next year. Efforts to meet this goal include compiling a public calendar of events, promoting events both internally and to external organizations they meet with and making available grants more accessible.
