Faced with juggling financial concerns and student services, University of Wisconsin’s Student Services Financial Committee makes decisions that determine the kinds of resources available to the campus population in the form of student groups.
Not only does SSFC have fiscal responsibilities in allocating student segregated fees to fund student groups, its members also have a responsibility to students in determining which groups are eligible for funding.
Recent SSFC verdicts finding two student diversity groups — MEChA and Diversity Education Specialists — ineligible for funding have invited scrutiny of SSFC members’ judgment.
SSFC chair Roman Patzner said clear standards exist to determine a group’s eligibility, and it is these that guide the committee’s decisions.
“We have certain basic criteria which we examine,” Patzner said. “Certain organizations met the criteria, and other ones didn’t. There was no mention of race being an adverse factor.”
Some of the questions prospective student groups must answer on the eligibility form include whether the group is available and accessible to all students, whether it provides educational benefits or services not provided elsewhere in the university, and whether it has violated any ASM or UW System bylaws.
If members determine the group in question meets all requirements, eligibility is assured.
Students involved in the diversity groups denied funding said they feel these groups are subjected to a heightened level of questioning that other groups do not face.
“Words cannot express how very disappointed I am in the committee,” said MEChA leader Darrell Balderrama after SSFC voted to deny the group’s funding. “The decision to not fund us is an obviously racial decision towards MEChA and a strategic movement to silence the voice of Chicano students.”
SSFC member Mark Baumgardner said proper conduct is a major concern when evaluating a group’s potential to serve students.
“To me, the biggest concern is ensuring that groups follow all the rules,” Baumgardner said.
He said accessibility was the other most important consideration.
“The most important part of my job is representing students as a whole,” Baumgardner said. “Student groups should serve all the students.”
Associate Students of Madison chair Bryan Gadow said he would like to see more student support of SSFC’s work, which allows students to be responsible for a significant portion of their own tuition money.
“This is one way we can be in charge of our student groups and our educational mission at the university,” Gadow said.
Losing control of segregated-fee use would be a blow to student power in the university, Gadow added.
Patzner agreed that serving students remains SSFC’s biggest goal.
“We have to make sure that valuable student services on this campus receive funding,” Patzner said. “It’s our responsibility to make sure these resources are available to students.”
Gadow said students need to understand the importance of SSFC’s work even if they don’t agree with all of the committee’s rulings.
“Regardless of what students think about the decisions, it’s vitally important that we, the students, maintain control of our segregated fees,” Gadow said.
In the coming weeks, SSFC will complete its eligibility hearings and begin hearings on funding.
