A student organization moved closer to receiving funding Thursday when the Student Services Finance Committee voted in favor of allowing the group student segregated fee funding eligibility.
In their eligibility hearing, representatives from Working Class Student Union, a campus organization focused on providing resources for working class and first-generation college students and recognizing and celebrating class diversity, said their group deserved eligibility because it provides important direct services, such as hosting “issue meetings” that give students a space to explore class identities.
An organization must undergo eligibility hearings every two years and demonstrate its ability to perform “direct services,” which are educational services available and tailorable to any University of Wisconsin-Madison student’s needs, to receive funding from student segregated fees.
Student groups must devote 51 percent of their time offering direct services to receive eligibility.
SSFC Rep. Devon Maier said he voted to approve WCSU’s eligibility because no other organization on campus provides the same services.
“The peer-to-peer [advising] is especially important for situations when [they’re] seeking advising for socioeconomics reasons,” Maier said.
Many representatives agreed with Maier, saying even their most conservative calculations were above the 51 percent direct services threshold.
Also at the meeting, Atheists, Humanists and Agnostics and Wisconsin Student Lobby applied for funding eligibility.
According to SSFC Chair Ellie Bruecker, while there may be some important points of debate regarding the specific services of the groups, she does not foresee any controversies in the decisions.
“I think the hearings went very well,” Bruecker said. “Both groups seemed very prepared and I think SSFC members asked good questions.”
SSFC will vote on both groups’ eligibility Monday.
