Monday, the Student Services Finance Committee discussed altering the process for student organizations to apply for funding.

Some members said many students do not consider SSFC to be a helpful resource while looking for funding. 

“The process to get money for your org is cumbersome,” SSFC Rep. David Luján said. “We should make afternoon meetings more accessible, quicker and easier to understand.”

SSFC members considered different options for changing both the application process and ways in which students in search of RSO funding can contact them.

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Associated Students of Madison Staff and Programs Director Joanna Gurstelle spoke about the importance of SSFC’s relationship with RSOs. 

“When the charge of this community was developed, the idea … was that students shouldn’t have to wait for campus or administrators to meet their needs. Students should be able to meet their own needs through the tools they have available,” Gurstelle said. “[Those tools], in [our] case, are funding.”

Gurstelle also spoke about how SSFC is necessary as a student organization to be able to meet the needs of students.  

SSFC Rep. Rianna Mukherjee agreed, saying that SSFC should let it be known that it’s there to help students. 

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Some students feel applying for money from SSFC will make their organizations lose their independence, Mukherjee said.

“Some orgs don’t want institutional support because they want to be student run [and] student led,” Mukherjee said. “[In their minds], the money needs to come from students because when the money comes from the university, you know, bureaucracy. They lose what the students want.”