At the Associated Student Government’s first senate meeting of the year, senators unanimously passed emergency legislation to urge the state of Illinois to reinstate a federal college funding program.
The Illinois Monetary Assistance Program is a grant supplied by the government to make post-secondary education more affordable for Illinois students from low-income families. During the summer, the Illinois government decided to cut funding for MAP for the 2010 fiscal year.
The ASG academic committee submitted a proclamation asking the Illinois government to reinstate funds for MAP “in order to ensure that Illinois students continue to receive an opportunity at higher education.”
ASG Academic Director Muhammad Safdari presented the proclamation and said though the budget cuts won’t affect NU enormously, many other Illinois universities will be affected.
“At the other institutions, this is big,” he said. “Even though the effect here might be minimal, it’s a really big deal for a lot of other students at other colleges who might have to drop out of college.”
Unlike many Illinois universities, NU has pledged to cover the lost funding for its students with MAP grants, according to the Chicago Tribune. ASG President Mike McGee said he is a MAP grant recipient.
“This is more NU showing their support for other Illinois institutions to reinstate this money, because it’s really important,” the Communication senior said.
ASG representative Samantha Reed said she is attending a protest in Springfield tomorrow to petition the government’s cutting of the funds.
“MAP grants are something that’s really important to my life,” the SESP junior said. “A lot of my friends back home go to state schools, and it’s actually a much bigger deal for them because most of their tuition is covered by these grants. Going to Springfield is important to show an active solidarity with my fellow students.”
In addition, ASG Vice President Tommy Smithburg submitted a proposal to change the ASG Airport Services program which incorporates both ASG RideShare and the ASG Airport Shuttle. These programs, created last year, have already saved NU students a total of about $30,000, Smithburg said. The proposal recommended turning over all responsibility for the programs to Northwestern Student Holdings, a student company that owns and operates student-run businesses.
“It has come to my attention that for the best sustainability of these programs, it would be best for NSH to assume the responsibility,” Smithburg said. “I’ve had no hesitation whatsoever with allowing them to take over the operation.”
ASG will vote on the issue in next week’s senate.
Last year, Smithburg said ASG lost about $250 from RideShare. Senators hope NSH can make a profit and expand the program without raising costs, Smithburg said.
“They had a lot of ideas, including a completely different marketing strategy,” he said. “They want to do a lot more guerilla marketing to get more dramatic, and then run it at a profit.”
During general order, McCormick senior Matthew Luther was confirmed as technology director for ASG after the previous director stepped down from the position.
“He understands how to make Web sites more effective,” Smithburg said. “That’s something that ASG needs right now, and we don’t have as much traffic as we can have.”
The senate also elected three senators and two non-senators to the Student Appropriations and Finance Committee.
