Program prioritization task force open for students

By Alexander Chettiath

More than 50 students have applied for the volunteer program prioritization student task forces with the application going live Monday.

Program prioritization, which began in 2014, uses task forces to create reports that review 223 academic programs and 236 administrative programs to influence the allocation of university funds, according to the program prioritization website.

“[The] students are very diverse in nature coming from all different types of organizations, different resource centers, various academic levels,” said Student Association Senate Speaker Dillon Domke. “We have freshman all the way through final-year doctoral students wishing to be a part of this.”

Applications for the program prioritization student task forces are available on the program prioritization website until 5 p.m. March 11, according to a SA news release.

Program reports were completed on Dec. 11, and must be graded by April 30.

After reports are graded, the student task forces will review them for the final two weeks of the semester. There will be an academic task force and an administrative task force that will each have a total of ten students including a task force chair.

“This student task force is going to evaluate different programs,” Domke said. ”There are what we call five buckets that a program can be put into. From [a program that] should receive more funding and resources to … [removing] this program entirely.”

Applicants will be selected by the SA special committee and announced upon return from spring break. Members will undergo training led by members of the program prioritization coordinating committee.

“We don’t know yet how long it will be, we think maybe once a week for a few weeks at about an hour per session,” Domke said. “We don’t expect them to be program efficiency experts, this just gets them caught up and gives them an understanding of what they are working with.”

The selection process will be guided by the requirements used for membership of the SA.