Two UW-Madison student organizations were denied contracts Thursday from the Student Services Finance Committee, a committee of the Associated Students of Madison, which would otherwise allow them to hire full-time staff members not overseen by the university.
Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group was the only organization of the three that presented to be awarded contract status for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.
The biggest benefit of having contract status, said SSFC Vice Chair Katrina Flores, is the ability to hire full-time staff members that are supervised by the organization and not the university.
According to Jeff Rolling, the board chair of WISPIRG, his organization depends on its full-time staff to survive.
WISPIRG needs full time staff to organize and train students as well as to lobby for issues at the Capitol, Rolling said, which he believes students just couldn't do.""
""Without staff, there would be no recognizable form of WISPIRG on this campus,"" Rolling said.
The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow was denied contract status because SSFC decided that, even though it might be more convenient, it would not improve the mission of the group.
""There was nothing done by a full-time staff member that could not be done by a student,"" said SSFC Chair Alex Gallagher.
Jordan Smith, a UW-Madison alumni and the campus organizer of CFACT is one of two full-time staff members at the organization.
Smith said she believes full-time staff members bring expertise and devotion that student volunteers do not have, and added that full- time members can commit more hours to the organization.
Beth Czarnecki, chair of UW-Madison's Roman Catholic Foundation, said her organization needs full-time staff because they would provide continuity and educate students about Catholic theology.
However, Gallagher said the RCF had a violation with the ASM earlier this summer, and therefore denied contract status.
