Staff and students from the Chicano/Latino studies program are calling for an increase in future funding and office space, guaranteed positions for various staff members and a comprehensive plan for Chicano and Latino student admissions and retention rates.

Members of the program met with Provost Kim Wilcox a second time on Monday and presented him with a list of these concerns, which also includes making the program into a department.

Interdisciplinary studies in social science and community relations junior Claudia Gonzalez works in the Chicano/Latino studies office and said the office's budget projections arrived late and appeared to allocate about $77,000 less than the year before.

On Friday, several members from the program attempted to speak with President Lou Anna K. Simon concerning problems with their budget.

Wilcox and other university officials met with them and assured that the lost funds had been mistakenly allocated to different departments and would be restored.

Wilcox said when he met with the program's members, he noticed their commitment to the program.

"It was just an error in accounting, but it led to conversation about other concerns that they had," he said.

The program's budget includes money from the university, private donors and funds that remain from the previous year.

It pays for the specialization program and its activities, as well as the salaries of graduate assistants and faculty.

Gonzalez said the lengthier second meeting will allow the students to present their list of demands and set a foundation for future concerns.

"Everything comes with hard work," she said. "We are in the beginning process of talking about going in and letting them know we want this (program) to become an official department."

Currently, Chicano/Latino studies is a 23-credit specialization in the College of Social Science. Several graduate and undergraduate students work in the program's office and act as mentors to incoming and returning Chicano and Latino students.

Wilcox said positive dialogue between students and administrators is something he encourages.

"It's much more effective to make a request so I can come to a meeting prepared. I wasn't prepared on Friday," he said, adding that he received the list of demands before the second meeting. "I'm trying to get as prepared as possible - otherwise it's not an effective use of anyone's time."

Wilcox added that one item on the list, which would double the amount of money the program receives from the university to $100,000, was currently out of his control.

"Universities have cycles about budget concerns and programmatic requests," Wilcox said. "There is only so much you can do within the cycle. We have allocated as much as we can to the units on campus. It's difficult to make big decisions at financial cost."

Social relations junior Oscar Vega Sr. attended the meeting with the provost on Friday and said the university should take a closer look at its demographics.

"I work around a lot of programs and cutbacks were there," Vega said, adding that the Chicano and Latino community is the largest growing minority in the nation. "You haven't much power. Lou Anna K. Simon said she wants (MSU) to be the largest land-grant college. She best look at the minority aspect."