Faculty from departments across campus gathered Tuesday for an open discussion regarding the decision-making process for the use of Madison Initiative for Undergraduates funding.
The MIU funding comes from an annual tuition fee increase. Half of this revenue goes toward need-based financial aid, while the other half is used to fund various departments on campus.
Departments interested in receiving these funds submit proposals to the Madison Initiative Oversight Committee, which makes recommendations to the chancellor as to which proposals to fund.
Associated Students of Madison Chair Tyler Junger said he sees a need for campuswide cooperation and creativity in the proposals for funding. He said when making the decisions regarding which proposals to fund, the oversight committee looked for projects involving multiple departments and thinking outside the box when solving campus problems.
Representatives from various campus departments spoke on behalf of their proposals, which are supposed to focus on improving the overall undergraduate experience on campus, as well as fostering growth in various academic departments.
Wren Singer, director of the Center for the First Year Experience, said she sees a need for a new focus on transfer students, a group she says has been largely overlooked.
""Fifty-one percent of transfer students say that they have trouble feeling comfortable with the academic and social life on campus,"" she said. ""Our positions currently are focused primarily on first-year students, and we haven't given the attention to transfer students that we'd like.""
David Cross, from the Student Financial Aid office, highlighted a project called Scholarships at UW-Madison, which consolidates scholarship information from across campus in a single database.
University Housing is also seeking MIU funding to open three new Residential Learning Communities by 2013, bringing the total number to nine. In addition, they would like to keep a native-speaking teaching assistant for each language in the International Learning Community to ensure an immersion experience for future residents.
The Departments of History, Computer Sciences and East Asian Studies are also requesting funding to expand with the growing popularity of their majors.
