Chair Matt Manes introduces SSFC

Despite turning in part of their application late, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan was declared eligible for funding by the student government Monday night.

The Associated Students of Madison Student Services Finance Committee unanimously granted funding eligibility to MEChA for the next two fiscal years.

SSFC Chair Matt Manes said there were initial concerns about accepting MEChA’s application because the group’s end of the year report was missing when they first turned in their paperwork.

However, at last Thursday’s meeting the committee unanimously decided to allow MEChA to submit the report late, Manes said.

The committee thought MEChA met all the criteria, and CulturARTE, a student art program put on by MEChA, counted as a direct service which took up more than 50 percent of the group’s time, Manes said.

Jeanette Martin, MEChA CulturARTE workshop facilitator, said she was happy with the decision and thought everything went smoothly with the process.

“I thought we deserved to be funded,” Martin said.

SSFC also granted funding eligibility to the Working Class Student Union after debating if some of their time was actually spent on direct services for students, including time spent advertising.

Vice Chair Michael Romenesko said WCSU’s promotional work to advertise their events and services should not be considered time spent working on direct services.

“There are strict guidelines to what direct services are and promotions are a part of administration and they should not be considered direct services,” Romenesko said.

However, Representative Cale Plamann said SSFC bylaws allow planning to be considered a direct service and he considers promotion an essential part of planning for a group to make sure a program is a success.

SSFC also held eligibility hearings for the Campus Women’s Center and F.H. King.

CWC was denied for this fiscal year at last year’s eligibility hearings because SSFC did not believe they spent the majority of their time on direct services.

During CWC’s presentation, Program Coordinator Rae Lymer said 69.2 percent of their time is spent on direct services, including resource advising, speaker’s bureau, “condom crawls,” support groups and family resource advising, which includes their Kid’s Night Out and Kid’s Time programs.

Representative Jair Alvarez asked the group what they have done to change the organization from last year when they were deemed not eligible for funding.

Nathalie Cheng, CWC’s publicity coordinator, said last year they emphasized their Kid’s Night Out and Kid’s Time programs, which made it seem like they were just for students who have children.

In reality, students can volunteer to help with the programs even if they don’t have children, Cheng added.

However, Romenesko questioned if students who do not have children can use the service in any way other than volunteering.

“I will admit that if you don’t have a child you will not use that service, but it is a very vital service and it can’t be found on campus,” Lymer said.

SSFC’s decisions for CWC and F.H. King will be announced Thursday.