Students will reap the benefits of 15 new advising positions within UW-Madison's schools and colleges as a result of funding from the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates.
The positions, meant to increase undergraduate accessibility to various colleges, schools and departments within the university, were selected based on the strength of proposals submitted to committees of administrators, faculty and students.
Committee members numerically ranked proposals based on which would influence the greatest number of students.
""There were so many great proposals,"" said Tom Templeton, an ASM representative involved in the selection process. ""It was really great, but there were so many great ideas and we couldn't fund them all.""
Although the six-month selection process was rigorous, Templeton said the proposals reflected the best of the university's faculty.
""I think it shows the really great things that the faculty here want to do; how genius they are,"" he said.
The MIU is funded through supplemental charges attached to undergraduate tuition bills that came into effect in 2009, with annual tuition increases of $250 for Wisconsin and Minnesota undergraduates and $750 for out-of-state students.
After four years, the charges level off at $1,000 annually for students paying in-state tuition and $3,000 for undergraduates paying out-of-state.
Of the approximately $20 million raised through the MIU, $1.5 billion was allocated for the explicit purpose of funding advising services across UW-Madison.
Created by the Board of Regents in May of 2009 by then-Chancellor Biddy Martin, the MIU provides funding to support greater course offerings, access to popular majors, various student services and need-based financial aid for undergraduates.
Martin said that in a time when public universities have cut back on faculty and administrative spending in line with dwindling state budgets, the MIU has been incredibly vital for UW-Madison.
""Those of us who put that initiative forward always hoped that we would be able to make up lost ground in faculty positions for the good of the students,"" said Martin, now the president of Amherst College.
""If the funding has helped or, as time goes on, will help students at UW-Madison and the institution as a whole, that would make me very happy,"" she said.
