The University Park Student Fee Board met Friday to hear allocation request presentations from Campus Recreation, Penn State’s Student Parent Child Care Subsidy program, and Student Legal Services.

Laura Hall, senior director of Campus Recreation, kicked the Board’s first round of hearings off with a presentation of her organization’s request.

Campus Recreation provides numerous programs, facilities, and services, allowing for Penn State students to engage in recreational activities. Hall presented a request for a total of $4,971,763.

A portion of these funds will ensure financial accessibility for students wanting to participate in programs offered by Campus Recreation. Hall explained that club sports are expected to be more expensive than ever in the coming years. She hopes to use these funds to keep student dues low.

More than 1,000 students are currently employed by Campus Recreation. The funds would allow it to offer merit-based increases, coronavirus-related pay incentives, and holiday/summer pay incentives to student employees.

Campus Recreation also plans on launching a well-being campaign with the goal of defining well-being as it relates to students. By engaging with campus partners who are experts in the subject matter, Hall hopes to help students understand well-being and its different realms.

Cheryl Zeljak then outlined the Student Parent Child Care Subsidy program’s request for level funding of $206,362 for the 2021-22 cycle.

The Student Parent Child Care Subsidy program helps low-income student parents sustain their educational efforts by paying a portion of their child care.

Zeljak explained that students who are receiving this subsidy are provided additional study time, able to participate in group projects, and afforded more time for counseling and advising support.

Due to circumstances presented by the pandemic, the program aims to provide resources to parents who are keeping their children at home, such as networking opportunities, as well as send learning kits out to families at home.

The final presentation of the meeting was given by Kelly Mroz, the director of Student Legal Services.

Student Legal Services employs four full-time attorneys that act as a legal support arm for students on campus, and its funding request of $520,000 for the 2021-22 cycle will be almost entirely put towards the wages and salaries of these attorneys.

Mroz shared that this year has been unlike any other for the organization. In years past, about 60% of its cases are criminal, while the other 40% are civil. This year, Student Legal Services saw many more civil cases than criminal cases come through its office.

One thing that has remained constant, however, is the overwhelming satisfactory rate among students who receive support from Student Legal Services. The organization typically sees about 500 intakes per year, per attorney, and this year, about 95% of students who contacted the office reported being either satisfied or very satisfied with their experience.

The Student Fee Board will continue to hear allocation request presentations from the Center for Performing Arts, the Bryce Jordan Center, and CAPS at its next meeting on Friday, December 11.