Members of University of Wisconsin’s student government held an eligibility hearing Monday for an environmental advocacy group the former chancellor denied funding under UW System financial policy.

In 2010, after many years of the Student Services Finance Committee approving funding for the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, former Chancellor David Ward said the group violated F50, a UW System policy governing the use of segregated fees, and denied the organization funding.

Under F50, segregated fees cannot be used for funding non-university employees without a contract.

WISPIRG sought outside legal counsel who were unable to find the reason they were prevented from receiving funding, Matt Kozlowski, a former member of WISPIRG, said.

WISPIRG’s mission is to get students involved in public interest issues and make big changes at the local, state and federal levels, Mariella Trelevan, a WISPIRG member, said.

“Our mission is to engage students on public interest campaigns, the issues we work on have an impact beyond campus but the focus is on getting students involved in those campaigns and training UW students, ” Trevelan said.

Each year WISPIRG votes on three to six campaigns to focus on for a semester, Trelevan said.

SSFC Rep. Justin Bloesch asked whether WISPIRG’s services were available to all students, not just members.

Trevelan said WISPIRG had programs to assist all students, even if their interests did not align with WISPIRG’s chosen campaigns at the time.

SSFC Rep. Devon Maier asked what the difference was between WISPIRG and a comparable service ASM offers.

“ASM’s campaigns are more campus focused … WISPIRG tries to get students involved in campaigns that make a difference in a broader community state-wide and even at the federal level,” Trelevan said.

WISPIRG empowers students to see the results of what they have learned and the opportunities they have had and allow them to come up with their own campaigns and play leadership roles, Trelevan said.

In previous years, there were also concerns as to whether WISPIRG’s primary beneficiaries were UW students as their campaigns have an impact beyond campus, Trelevan said. ASM Student Judiciary ruled that ‘beneficiary’ could be interpreted differently and as long as UW students were involved in the campaigns they should be considered the primary beneficiaries, she said.

Maier said he was concerned that an internship class allows students to receive credits through the organization, which is a direct violation of segregated fee funding criteria.

Kozlowski said internships are exempt from the credit-producing clause so WISPIRG still meets criteria for eligibility.

SSFC approved funding for WISPIRG for the fiscal year 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 and requested Ward sign the contract to allow funding for non-university employees several times, which he refused, rendering the group unable to receive student funds.

Last year, WISPIRG operated on grants and loans to fund their projects, Trevelan said. WISPIRG hopes to communicate and work with Chancellor Rebecca Blank to solve these previous contract problems, she said.

SSFC members will rule on WISPIRG’s eligibility and hold an initial hearing for Badger Catholic on Thursday.