New projects approved for SLL funding

(Infograph by Stephanie Truong.)
(Infograph by Stephanie Truong.)

Last month, the Student Life Levvy (SLL) Committee approved 18 of the 33 projects that were proposed to enhance student life on the Wilfrid Laurier University campus.

The SLL is a pool of money that all undergraduates pay into in order to support these projects, which are chosen each year. The goals of these projects are to enhance campus life for students, as well as their overall experiences while studying.

The cost for the 2012 to 2013 year was $32.80 for each student per semester, which accumulated a grand total of $1, 039,515.49. Of this amount, $577,919.71 was given to the 18 approved projects, with another $461,595.78 allocated towards the Athletic Complex expansion.

Of the 18 projects that were approved for the Waterloo campus for the 2012 to the 2013 year, the majority were with regards to renovating current study space, such as adding more outlets to the library, and aiding enhancing mental and physical health, which includes new yogi yoga classes.

“It’s pretty straight-forward,” said Jon Pryce, chair of the board of directors and chief governance officer. “And it’s actually Waterloo-student based.”
Waterloo students pay into the SLL each semester that they are enrolled. The cost, according to Appendix A of the SLL agreement states that the index price rises 2.5 per cent annually.

While reviewing the proposed projects, the committee must analyze how they fit into specific guidelines to ensure that they will, in fact, benefit students.

“We have to make sure that the projects that come to us increase opportunities for students,” explained Pryce. “They’re pretty self-explanatory: improve personal health and fitness, increase opportunity for students to engage with each other, culture and learning outside of classroom space, so very strict criteria.”

“And then obviously the committee can determine something else that is kind of along the lines but not exact,” he continued.

There can, however, be some flexibility within these guidelines if a project has the potential to benefit students in alternative ways.

“If we find that there are other needs that students have, as determined by the committee, we will say ‘okay, this is what will enhance student life,’” said Pryce.

The ones that were declined, which Pryce said he was not at liberty to discuss, were because they did not fit any of the guidelines or provide enough justification to fit.

While these projects are limited to the Waterloo campus as of now, Brantford students did vote to create a SLL for their campus in 2011, but it was denied.

“They just didn’t see a value in it,” commented Pryce.

However, any Laurier student can make a proposal for an SLL project. If a member of the voting committee approves the project on the first level, it is then taken to their annual meeting to be discussed and then either officially passed or declined.

“It’s one of those situations where we all [want to] achieve the same thing and enhance student life,” concluded Pryce.

“That’s what I really like about this committee, [and] you see the university’s angle and you see the Student’s Union angle, and we compromise, and we come up with a collective solution.”

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