The Madison Initiative Oversight Committee is meeting Tuesday to decide which proposals will be implemented immediately with the use of Initiative funds and which need to be revised.
The Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, implemented in the 2009-2010 academic year, calls for a supplemental tuition charge to ""improve access to high-demand courses and majors"" and ""provide significant need-based financial aid funds,"" according to its website.
The Initiative accepted 29 proposals for review on its Oct. 1 deadline and will receive a second round of proposals Nov. 15.
The Madison Initiative Student Oversight Board rated and reviewed proposals before sending them back to the Madison Initiative Oversight Committee, which made final recommendations to Chancellor ""Biddy"" Martin Oct. 23.
According to Associated Students of Madison Chair Tyler Junger, the student board took approximately a week to read and rate the proposals individually.
""We collected our ratings on a spreadsheet and spent about four hours discussing the proposals, sorting them into categories 1-4,"" Junger said in an e-mail.
The categories varied from proposals the students felt should be funded immediately to those they felt should not receive any funding.
Two of the 29 proposals were sent back to the authors for further development.
Junger said the most promising proposal he saw was a shared notes system for campus advisors.
""This system will allow advisors to keep track of students' progress through different schools and colleges on campus, and will hopefully lead to more productive encounters between students and advisors,"" Junger said.
According to Junger, some changes will be made in the proposal review process following the next deadline. These changes will most likely include mechanisms to make the process more ""transparent"" to the students and university community.
Junger also said he is hopeful that funds gained from the Initiative are going to be used effectively.
""I think that the people on campus who write these proposals realize that this is a rare opportunity to make our campus a better place, and will thus be careful with how they spend the money,"" Junger said.
