The Student Services Finance Committee denied eligibility to two groups seeking student segregated fees Tuesday night.

Both the Diversity Education Program and the F.H. King Students of Sustainable Agriculture lost their cases, while the Legal Information Center and WISPIRG were approved for funding for the fiscal years 2007-08 and 2008-09.

SSFC is a part of the Associated Students of Madison, is accountable for looking over the budgets of registered student organizations and deals with all student-segregated fees.

Each group is judged on a number of criteria ranging from their current status as a registered student organization to whether or not all students are allowed membership into the group.

The most controversial group seeking funding, DEP, was denied largely because it is not actually a registered student organization and thus does not meet the first requirement for funding eligibility.

The group also was denied eligibility because it is run by professionals rather than by students.

"Students don't have an opportunity to be a part of their leadership positions," SSFC secretary Jackie Goessl said.

The group was denied eligibility quickly, with very few opinions to the contrary.

The F.H. King Students group also was denied eligibility at the meeting and, in the process, sparked a debate about what type of members they allow into the group.

In a handout they had given SSFC at the previous meeting, they said only "full-time students" could join. In their presentation Monday, however, that phrase was deleted.

"You should interpret by-laws the same for every organization," SSFC Chair Zach Frey cautioned during the debate.

Eventually the group was denied eligibility for omitting from the presentation the "full-time students" condition written in their handout.

The Legal Information Center was the first group to come before the committee, and they were granted eligibility almost unanimously.

"This group provides great information for all students and is an important service free of charge," SSFC member Mike Manuel said.

WISPIRG also received eligibility for student funding because in the committee's view they provide an educational benefit to the campus.

The committee also heard presentations from three groups, including the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Student Council, Engineers Without Borders and Collegians For a Constructive Tomorrow.

A decision will be made on those groups' budget eligibility at the SSFC's next meeting Thursday.

Budget allocation hearings were on the agenda for this meeting but were pushed back to a later date. More budget eligibility hearings will take place Thursday.