Late last week, University of Wisconsin Chancellor John Wiley returned several student groups' budgets to the Student Services Finance Committee and called on the committee to eliminate funding for the organizations' off-campus facilities. The measure has forced SSFC to reconsider funding allocations for six groups including Sex Out Loud, CFACT, WISPIRG and the UW Roman Catholic Foundation.

We agree with Mr. Wiley's decision to adhere to UW System policy, which strictly prohibits the use of allocable student-segregated fees for rent, overhead, maintenance or insurance for facilities not owned by UW.

A strikingly similar situation occurred last year, when Chancellor Wiley returned the budgets of six student groups for the same reason. He gave the groups a one-year extension on funding for off-campus office space, explicitly specifying that the extension was a one-time exemption from the policy and that in future years, the finance committee would not be allowed to honor budget requests for off-campus offices.

SSFC's decision to grant funding to these groups defied Chancellor Wiley's instructions outlined last year.

Luckily, the finance committee has begun the process of reworking the student group budgets — with surprising efficiency for such a historically bureaucratic group.

However, the blame for this issue does not rest solely on SSFC. The student groups that specifically requested funding for non-university space should have heeded Mr. Wiley's warning issued last April — to do otherwise was blatantly irresponsible.

Essentially, this snafu boils down to a colossal waste of time: After receiving a detailed explanation of how to handle funding allocations, SSFC ignored Mr. Wiley's wishes and system policy by accepting flawed proposals, only to renege on their previous decisions.

To avoid such controversies, it would behoove the student groups in question to keep the chancellor's instructions in mind when drafting budget proposals in the future. And it is critical that the Associated Students of Madison and SSFC continue to cooperate with Mr. Wiley and observe policy in order to prevent further problems.

The last thing SSFC needs to do is go back on another of its own decisions.