The Student Service Finance Committee decided Monday to delay the ruling on the Multicultural Student Coalition’s appeal for funding eligibility until next week.
After SSFC ruled MCSC did not spend more than 50 percent of its time directly serving students and was thus ineligible for funding, MCSC appealed the ruling last Thursday.
MCSC members said SSFC did not have a standardized process for determining what constitutes a “direct service.”
Other student groups from across the UW-Madison campus backed MCSC, saying their student groups had faced similar problems in past years.
MCSC Diversity Educator Rebecca Pons said a third party could best decide whether the group is eligible for funding.
“This appeals process was created but never implemented in a trained fashion,” Pons said. “The answer to this issue is probably at the law school or beyond.”
SSFC Rep. Justin Bloesch said he plans to consult with a UW professor to determine if MCSC spends more than 50 percent of its time directly serving students. Bloesch said he hopes to use statistical analysis to interpret MCSC’s service hours.
“We’ve consulted the qualitative info,” Bloesch said after the meeting. “Now we’re trying to quantify it.”
The ruling was tabled for next Monday’s meeting.
The SSFC also amended legislation that would put an additional check on the committee.
The amendment would give the Rules Committee, a standing body of ASM, the charge to review all new forms and applications that any ASM body would make.
The Associated Students of Madison Student Council will hear the proposed amendment at their meeting Wednesday.
