LDPB divides funding, programming groups

The Leadership and Development Programming Board (LDPB) is responsible for things at UW-River Falls such as programs, events and money given to student organizations. LDPB is split in to seven subcommittees, and these subcommittees take charge of programming on campus. The Board has recently split into two specific departments: programming and funding.

According to Student Organizations Coordinator Jon Levendoski, when LDPB moved into the University Center from its old location at Hagestad Hall, the amount of student participation and involvement grew significantly. With the additional numbers, LDPB had to accommodate. By splitting into two separate and specific departments, the boards can better focus on each topic respectively.

Karyn Wells will be advising several programming positions on Falcon Programs, the new programming board, including: concerts programmer, performing arts programmer, campus traditions programmer, film programmer and special events programmer.

“Falcon Programs will be responsible for all of the programming that the current LDPB committees are responsible for,” Wells said, “We feel that by having one committee instead of several, it will be much easier to plan, market and provide opportunities for students on campus to get involved.”

The new Falcon Programming Board will consist of 15 student-held positions. The 15 students are heads of different program-related committees.

“For example, we have a concert committee within the Programming Board. Finals Fest would fall under this category. The one student who heads the concert committee would be responsible for issues involving space and equipment,” Levendoski said. “They’re also in charge of contacting the performer. This person can have people who work for and with them, but they are the one who heads the whole operation.”

The new Programming Board hopes to involve more students now that they can specifically focus on programming issues.

“I really think the creation of Falcon Programs is huge step in the right direction for programming on our campus,” Falcon Programs’ Film Series Director Brandon Kesler said. “One of the main goals of creating Falcon Programs was to bring all the separate committees together with the idea of being much more cohesive and better quality of programs for students, and the community.”

The funding board, titled Allocable Fee Appropriation Board (AFAB), will take over the LDPB function of allocating money to the student organizations on campus including the annual budgets and single event funding. In addition, the AFAB will also take over the Senate Finance Committee.

“This split is going to make our funding processes more consistent. They’ll be cleaner and more transparent, which is beneficial for the student organizations,” Levendoski said.

The Funding Board is still under a lot of construction, but LDPB members are optimistic for its future.

“Members worked long and hard to create the new funding board in a very short amount of time. It may not be perfect at this time, but it is a great stepping stone, and I foresee more changes happening next year,” Kesler said.

UWRF is not the only university that practices a program like this.

“Most university systems use this system. UWRF used to use it about 15 or 20 years ago but we changed to the idea of LDPB to cater to our specific students,” Levendoski said. “And now, returning back to the original system will better benefit our students.”