Most of the 800-plus student organizations on campus focus on changing the world through causes they care about. The Adventure Learning Program, however, seeks to change the world by helping these other organizations be effective and efficient in their missions.
ALPs, a UW-Madison student organization that develops community and leadership skills through experiential learning, had their budget proposal approved at $178,219.75 for the upcoming fiscal year by the Associated Students of Madison Student Services Finance Committee Monday.
The group offers a variety of workshops that can be tailored to individual organizations, and can be made by request. Workshops include ground and roving workshops, which focus on “getting to know you” activities and problem solving, as well as developing physical and emotional skills through low- and high-ropes courses up to 40 feet off the ground.
“We provide, specifically, not just that element of connectivity and getting to know each other, but also just a transfer of fun activities that you’re doing in a workshop that you can relate to your organization as a whole,” said ALPs Student Director Annie Eggert.
ALPs requested $178,257.25 for the 2018 fiscal year, an increase of $8,572.17 from their $169,685.08 budget for 2017 fiscal year.
Much of the organization’s budget will remain the same from the 2017 fiscal year to 2018. Consistencies in the budget include advertising, staff trainings and climbing wall funds.
According to Castro, the largest financial difference between 2017 and 2018 is salaries. Due in part to the organization’s steady five percent growth rate over the past five fiscal years, ALPs looks to increase their student staff salaries by $5,010, or just over seven percent.
Budget decreases between 2017 and 2018 include summer facilitator salaries, funding for low-ropes and sales credits, which is the revenue collected from hosting non-student workshops.
“I think the importance of ALPs is that it helps students grow in general, whether they’re a facilitator or a participant or a workshop person ... we also develop leadership skills, help them build community,” said ALPs advisor Mo Kappes. “Through that, we’re changing campus culture. We’re going to change the world.”
