In the latest chapter of the continued controversy between the Student Services Finance Committee and the Multicultural Student Coalition, tension and confusion surrounding the budget appeals process brought Thursday’s SSFC meeting to a close.
During the night’s emotional meeting, members of MCSC appealed SSFC’s denial of General Student Services Fund eligibility, arguing that MCSC is a necessary student organization on campus.
MCSC was denied eligibility for segregated fee funding two weeks ago by SSFC. The student organization brought a suit against SSFC to the Student Judiciary last month, charging that a budget waiver SSFC implemented earlier this year violated the group’s due process and was unfairly put in place. SJ ruled in favor of MCSC regarding the waiver in an opinion issued Monday.
During the meeting, MCSC members mainly asserted that SSFC’s process for assessing GSSF
eligibility is deficient and inconsistent. The group argued that a member of SSFC used
an incorrect formula when calculating eligibility and violated viewpoint neutrality when
determining the amount of direct services the group provides.
“You are not statisticians,” MCSC representative Nneka Akubeze said to the committee
during the appeal. “When it comes to calculating the numbers that a group gives you and
says is the truth, it is 100 percent your viewpoint when you decide that we’re
wrong.”
Akubeze went on to suggest that the committee seek help from experts in the creation of a more uniform funding eligibility procedure. She also said she did not like feeling like a
“guinea pig” in an unstandardized procedural experiment.
SSFC Rep. Tia Nowak agreed in open forum.
“I think the system is wrong and it’s not working to help students,” Nowak said. “What
we’re doing here is not learning to be lawyers – it’s affecting people’s lives, and the
decisions that we’re making here are much, much larger than this room.”
Also brought up in the dialogue was the fact that the bylaw delineating
the appeals process is not open to the public. ASM member Beth Huang said it troubled
her that she couldn’t find the information.
In response, SSFC Chair Sarah Neibart said she would look into making sure all of the
bylaws are on the SSFC website.
During the appeal, Akubeze also pointed out that many members of the committee
did not have a full grasp of the appeal process. When she asked the
committee how many members had been trained in the area, less than half raised their
hands.
With this in mind, Nowak motioned to postpone the agenda to the next meeting and
adjourn since members did not fully feel comfortable with the process at the time.
Neibart said in an interview with The Badger Herald that since the meeting started to get
heated and because of some confusion and miscommunication regarding the new appeals
process, she thought adjourning was a good idea.
Also during the meeting, the committee approved the Vets for Vets budget of
$37,904 in a vote of 10-0-2. The budget was proposed last Monday, and the committee
made few changes.
The Working Class Student Union also presented its budget of $51,814.30 to the
committee. A decision regarding the budget will be reached in
Monday’s meeting.
Some members of MCSC declined an interview with The Badger Herald.
