The student government’s Student Services Financial Committee denied funding to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences student council at Monday night’s meeting.
The unanimous vote to deny eligibility to the student council cited the lack of educational benefit on the whole to University of Wisconsin students, the lack of a clearly written mission statement, and a duplication of services as reasons against CALS. The council does have a written mission statement, but SSFC ruled that the statement did not meet the committee’s requirements for clarity.
The student organization made a case for itself Sunday night in front of the committee, where SSFC members disagreed with CALS fundraising rules. CALS members changed that issue in their constitution but were still found not worthy to receive students’ segregated-fee money.
SSFC Chair Aaron Werner was one of the members to deny eligibility.
“This might cause a stir because they were granted funding before,” Werner said.
Josh Petit, a council appointee, added that the eligibility hearings are new to all student organizations, this being the first hearing for the CALS student council.
“The fact that the committee spent a full hour in deliberation should send a message (of the seriousness of these conversations),” Petit said.
CALS student council received $10,150 from SSFC last fiscal year, of which $6,965.96 was spent. The balance will go to the council’s operations for the upcoming year.
The denial of SSFC funding does not exclude CALS from receiving event grants from the ASM finance committee, a separate entity from SSFC.
Other organizations granted eligibility for segregated fee funding in Monday’s meeting were the Campus Women’s Center, Sex Out Loud, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Campus Center, and Wunk Sheek, a Native American organization founded in 1968.