On Wednesday, Sept. 13, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Student Association (SA) heard from guest speakers regarding various topics, including You@UWL and The Green Fund. SA appointed a new inclusivity director and swore in a new College of Business (CBA) senator.
Coordinator of Student Wellness Isabella Beach and Counselor Outreach Coordinator Katelyn Longmire for the Counseling and Testing Center (CTC) visited SA, first to remind those in the meeting of UWL’s 24/7 crisis line, a free counseling resource accessible to students via call or text at any time. They also introduced a service called Mantra.
Mantra is a service that the CTC is using to expand its services. It is used to provide brief, solution-focused services with a student’s perspective in mind to complement the services already provided by the CTC here on campus. Coordinator Beach said, “The telehealth service can be really great for people who maybe have a busy schedule or can’t get in with CTC in a way that works.”
Also in the CTC presentation was information about You@UWL, a resource designed to help students become more aware of their mental health and proactively address concerns before they need to get help. Coordinator Beach explained that, “You [You@UWL] is going to kind of build the bridge between students and those services [Mantra] and other services at our campus.”
You@UWL is organized to help students with three main things: academic success, mental and physical well-being and finding purpose. Everything on You@UWL is organized under one of those three pillars and can be found in an assortment of media, ranging from articles to quizzes to short-form videos containing tips and advice for personal improvement. Additionally, You@UWL will give you personalized recommendations depending on what you are interested in.
Sustainability Program Manager Andrew Ericson and Green Fund Coordinator Cassandra Ziegler presented at last night’s meeting. They provided SA with more information on the Green Fund and its mission. They explained how its’ funding is acquired and distributed. Ericson and Ziegler answered questions senators had in last week’s meeting regarding a resolution to change the language in an upcoming Green Fund referendum. The language on the resolution includes the decision to increase the cost per student in student allocated fees from its current price of $5.42 up to a maximum of $7 per semester.
The fee within students tuition provides funds that the Green Fund uses to provide grants to students. Some of the projects that the Green Fund has funded include the Drift Cycle bicycles around campus as well as the solar panels on top of the REC that provide a portion of its energy.
SA unanimously voted to confirm the language in the Green Fund referendum regarding the student allocated free of $7. While this is not a guarantee that the price will increase to that amount, it does leave the possibility for it to increase, allowing the Green Fund to finance even more funding for student-led projects.
UWL students can vote on the Green Fund referendum on Oct. 11.
SA swore in Fabiola Martinez Garcia as the new Inclusivity Director and Kiersten Kobussen as the new CBA Senator.
Senator Giese with the Dean’s Student Advisory Council announced that they have a meeting on Oct. 24 to dismantle the iPad requirement for the School of Education (SOE), which has been a long-debated topic among the SOE.
