Correction appended.
A committee tasked with reviewing the funding structure of the Undergraduate Finance Board met for the first time this past Monday, said Daniel Pipkin '14, UCS-UFB liaison, at the general body meeting of the Undergraduate Council of Students Wednesday night. The council and UFB jointly created the committee following the failure of the proposed UCS constitutional amendment that would have given the council the ability to determine its own budget.
Pipkin said the committee will review documents — including the student government constitutions at the other Ivy League schools and various news articles — before presenting a proposed change to the UCS code by the end of the month. He also said the council is working on an informational booklet to attract more donations to the student activities endowment.
Ben Farber '12, former vice president of UCS, attended this week's meeting to express his opinion about the proposed constitutional change. He said he does not believe the council needs significantly more funding to carry out its mission, though he suggested UFB increase the council's funding for publicity.
UCS also discussed drafting a resolution supporting President Ruth Simmons' approach to the city's request for increasing funding from the University, though some members expressed concern about passing a resolution when the student body is so divided on the issue.
Michael Schneider '13, chair of the campus life committee, said Simmons has attempted to compromise with the city, though Providence rejected her offer. He cited this as a reason to pass a resolution supporting Simmons' stance on the issue.
Pipkin said increasing funding to the city could force the University to lay off staff members.
"You could potentially be changing people's livelihoods by supporting something like this," he said.
Michael Lin '14, chair of the admissions and student services committee, said the cost of the University accomplishing universal need-blind admission would be around $5 million and added that money that would be used to support the city could be used to fund other University activities.
The council also voted to support a Sustainability Strategic Plan proposed in last week's meeting by community members Matt Breuer '14 and Jenny Li '14 to specify the University's environmental objectives.
During committee updates, Lin praised the Office of Residential Life's placement of a printing cluster outside the Verney-Woolley Dining Hall on Pembroke campus, a project he said the council has promoted for the past two years. ResLife will attend next week's meeting to discuss housing improvements, said Sam Gilman '15, chair of the communications committee.
The visit will be part of UCS Week, which will include the State of Brown Address with Simmons March 15.
A previous version of this article stated that Ben Farber '12 said he believed the council needed a discretionary fund. In fact, Farber was explaining that others believe the council needs a discretionary fund, while he himself does not share the opinion. The Herald regrets the error.
