Student Government would create an annual fund in order to give students the chance to improve Michigan Tech. Thanks to the Undergraduate Student Government’s current constitution, Michigan Tech students may soon have the opportunity to submit proposals for on-campus improvement projects as part of the new “Campus Improvement Initiative” proposal.
The proposal would use money left over from student organization operating budgets, also known as “rollover” funds, to create a fund for campus improvement project ideas submitted by students and to prevent funds from piling up in the reserve fund. This would also prevent potentially successful student initiatives from failing because a large enough funding opportunity doesn’t exist.
Ideas would most likely be submitted through a Google Form, then voted on by a USG committee, and then by the USG body. A campus-wide vote for ideas may come later if the proposal is successful.
The idea behind the Campus Improvement Initiative, according to USG President Samuel Casey, is to give students the power to choose what kind of improvements can take place at Michigan Tech.
The proposal outlines several criteria: feasibility, security and sustainability, value to students, number of students affected, and whether or not the idea fits the purpose of the fund, but doesn’t give any rules on what kind of ideas can be submitted as long as they meet these criteria. “It’s meant to not limit students,” said Casey, “we really just want it to be open-ended.” The proposal’s cover letter also makes it clear that the proposal is meant to be student-driven, stating that “some students have bigger ideas than are typically available through student organizations’ annual operating budget or a typical funding request. We believe that students should have the power to improve the Michigan Tech campus as they see fit.”
The Campus Improvement Initiative proposal will be voted on this week as a pilot proposal, which means for now it’s a one-time funding opportunity that, if successful, would then become a bylaw amendment to make the fund available for future years. If approved, a promotional plan will be initialized and USG will begin accepting project idea forms in mid-November, and proposals will be taken into consideration and voted on starting in mid-January. Any student can submit a proposal for the Campus Improvement Initiative, which creates a huge opportunity to make an impact here at Michigan Tech. The deadline for submitting project proposal ideas will be in January.
