The University of Wisconsin Student Services Finance Committee met Monday night to hear General Student Services Fund applications for Registered Student Organizations and debate eligibility for two other organizations.
SSFC allocates part of the Student Segregated Fee to the GSSF, which qualifying RSOs can utilize to pay for salaries, supplies and programming, according to the GSSF website.
The committee voted in favor of the Latine Student Union’s eligibility to receive more than $50,000 in funding, passing with a vote of 9-0 with one abstention. They then voted on LSU’s budget, adding an amendment of an additional $200, as well as an extension of two weeks of funding for the treasurer position in the summer. LSU’s budget proposal was heard Oct. 27.
The GSSF eligibility of Womxn’s Ultimate Frisbee was also discussed during the meeting and ultimately denied with a vote of 8-0 with two abstentions. The team requested $106,957 at last Thursday’s meeting. Committee members said the organization was not open to all students and there was not enough educational value to the organization to support university funding.
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The People’s Farm, formerly F.H. King, an organization that works to foster the relationship between land, food and community on campus, presented a proposed budget of $113,508.25 for the fiscal year of 2025. This is an increase greater than 10% from the $102,735 they requested last year.
In the fiscal year of 2023, they were under budget by 15.5%, due to a complete leadership turnover of board members, with a significant amount of time without a finance director and only one urban agriculture director, The People’s Farm Finance Director Melina Nguyen said.
The budget includes $4,910 in funding for their Harvest Handouts and Workshop Series, two events they use to get students involved and educated on how to use and be sustainable with food and land.
The Student Leadership Program, an RSO that works to develop leadership skills in students through education and experiences, is requesting a budget of $84,815, which is a $16,227 and 20.11% increase from the fiscal year 2023.
The SLP Coordinating Team for the organization presented the budget at the meeting, speaking about each of the areas they lead and organize.
Most budget increases revolve around accommodating increased attendance at events, including retreats, kickoff events and banquets, which have seen very high numbers in turnout and are meant to celebrate members of the SLP.
The budgets for both organizations will be voted on at the next SSFC meeting Thursday, Nov. 2.
