Joint fund supports student initiatives

Dina Fanara

Assistant News Editor

The Student Life Enhancement Fund is making a new leap this year in order to provide students with services and campus improvements to better suit their needs.

The change was set in motion by Student Affairs and the Student Services Committee this academic year. The Fund gives students an opportunity to propose improvements that can be made on campus to improve student life and well-being. Additionally, an initiative of this sort will give students a chance to take an active role in the change they envision.

This Fund has been used in the past, but making it more accessible for students this year stands as a testament to the fact that students’ voices are not only valuable, but necessary in order to improve the quality of education that each student at McMaster is entitled to.

A strong driving force behind the implementation of this program is the improvement of the quality of education for McMaster’s full-time undergraduate students.

Applicants whose projects are chosen can partner with either an MSU service or a sub-section of Student Affairs that best suits the needs of the proposed change.

Students who submit their idea will be given the opportunity to suggest services which may be beneficial as partners in the initiative. If no suggestions are made, the student will be recommended partnering services upon acceptance.

The partnership with a campus service is beneficial to those applying and the entire student body, as it promotes the use of services already in place.

There will be essentially no upper limit for the funding of a project, noted Matthcw Dillon-Leitch, president of the McMaster Students Union (MSU). Submissions may be of any size and may require anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars to complete.

According to Dillon-Leitch, “no matter the size of your project, there are funds for this,” as long as it is seen as something that will benefit the student body at McMaster as a whole.

Previous student-lead initiatives funded by the Student Life Enhancement Fund include the creation of study space on the second floor of the Student Centre, the addition of new couches in the David Braley Athletic Centre, additions to the Queer Students Community Centre (QSCC) library and the development and implementation of the Residence Information System (RIS), among many others.

By utilizing student input to such an extent. the hope is to not only listen to students and offer  something that appeals to them directly, but to also give students an opportunity to come up with solutions to problems currently facing undergraduate education at McMaster that are perhaps often overlooked.

A strong supporter of student input and the power of the student voice, Dillon-Leitch explained that, “it will make us aware of all the ideas that students have to make this university better.”

Applications are being accepted until Feb. 17.