The Student Services Finance Committee approved the Wisconsin contract eligibility of WISPIRG, qualifying the group for university funding to pay for its professional staff.
The decision marks the first approved student group contract of the coming fiscal year.
During the meeting, WISPIRG chair Matt Kozlowski spoke on the importance of the group’s non-university professional staff.
“WISPRIG fulfills a deep, substantial need on campus and part of that comes through our professional staff,” Kozlowski said. “They help us match the mission of the university.”
Before approving the group’s eligibility, SSFC members discussed the value of the group’s services to UW’s student body.
“Services must provide a substantial need to the university,” SSFC Rep. Cale Plamann said. “I think that its hands-on experience and having campaigns that [students] can be slotted into is the sort of thing I don’t believe the group could efficiently get without some sort of professional staff.”
SSFC also approved a wage exemption for the Student Leadership Program. The group requested additional hours for members of its staff in order to better provide direct services to students.
SSFC Vice Chair Chase Wilson said the group clearly proved why the change was needed.
“Students can work twenty hours maximum per week generally and SLP was asking for twenty hours extra over one pay period,” Wilson said. “SLP was able to justify the request for specific tasks since it was only for a limited period of time.”
