http://http://vimeo.com/14761661
Chair Matt Manes introduces SSFC
On Sept. 16, the Student Services Finance Committee unanimously voted to allow the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan to file an application for segregated fee funding, thus ending a month-long period during which the group’s financial future was in serious question.
The confusion derived from MEChA’s failure to include a narrative report in the application, a crucial segment that explains in detail what an organization does with the funds it actually receives. While it is clear MEChA made an error in not attaching the narrative report, one page of the application should not define a funding decision to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.
Additionally, SSFC has a degree of culpability in the fiasco. On Aug. 20, when MEChA first submitted its application, they were told it had been received, implying all of their documents were in order. SSFC did not deign to notify them there was a problem with the document they had submitted until 20 days had passed. This seemed to indicate their eligibility was destined to be less a factor of the services the group provided than their adherence to bureaucratic structure. Given that MEChA had the narrative report all along, the fact the organization even needed to undergo a second vote to determine its eligibility for eligibility hearings strikes us as unnecessarily onerous.
We are pleasantly surprised SSFC made the right decision and refused to let bureaucratic intransigence overwhelm common sense. While the narrative report is undoubtedly a significant part of any group’s application, it would set an absurd precedent indeed if groups were refused funding because of clerical errors. The Associated Students of Madison, an organization legendary for its incompetence, has no place refusing to allow an application because it was improperly done. MEChA deserves its rightful place in the long line of groups applying for funding this year.
Even if there are doubts about MEChA’s eligibility under SSFC’s new funding criteria, that debate should take place in the proper forum, and thanks to a little sympathy from student government, it can.
