The Student Services Finance Committee approved legislation which clarifies how registered student organizations can apply for General Student Services Fund eligibility and the cost of student bus passes Monday.
GSSF funding
SSFC clarified that student groups may only apply for eligibility once per fiscal year with a vote of 12-0-1.
The GSSF provides funding for registered student organizations. Groups are granted eligibility for this fund based on the criteria legislation formed by the Associated Students of Madison.
First-time applicants have the chance to apply in the spring whereas returning student group applicants apply for eligibility in the fall.
SSFC members had previously expressed concern that it was unclear whether groups applying for eligibility in the spring could apply more than once in the same fiscal year.
The problem with allowing groups to apply once a fiscal year is that groups that aren’t accepted in the spring have to wait until the next year to reapply and will not be able to apply in the fall with the returning applicants, SSFC Vice Chair Thuy Pham said.
If SSFC were to allow first-time applicants to apply in both the spring and fall, they would have to open up spring applications to all student groups or it would be a double standard, Chair Devon Maier said. However, allowing all student groups the opportunity to apply in the spring would be “cumbersome,” he said.
If SSFC is interested in giving student groups a second chance to apply, additional legislation should be drafted at a later date, Rep. Colin Barushok said.
Seg fees
Maier met with Chancellor Rebecca Blank, who did not raise any concerns about the segregated fee funding requests SSFC has submitted this past year.
“It was a really encouraging meeting,” Maier said. “There aren’t any concerns with her not accepting any of the recommendations we made. We have a strong line of communication coming from administration.”
Blank also supported raising the wage rate for Recreational Sports student employees closer to the standards of other student employers around campus, Maier said.
Metro Transit
SSFC’s contract with Metro Transit, which provides student bus passes at a reduced rate, is still in negotiation, Maier said in an email to The Badger Herald.
SSFC approved a budget amount during closed sessions to cover its estimated budget for the bus passes, but the contract is not final, he said.
Metro Transit has offered SSFC a one year extension of the current $1.15 per rider fee to pay for the bus passes, Pham said.
The one year extension is Metro Transit’s current proposal, Maier said in an email to The Badger Herald.
“We’re disagreeing and pushing [Metro Transit] for a couple year extension,” Pham said. “We’re not going to just wait for the mayor’s decision.”
Metro Transit is presenting research to Mayor Paul Soglin on the possibility of installing wifi on Madison buses. If wifi were installed, segregated fees would have to increase, Pham said.
