Members of student government made revising the eligibility criteria for student groups receiving segregated fee funding a top priority for the year at a meeting Thursday. 

Committee members of Associated Students of Madison’s Student Services Finance Committee voiced their desire to revise the eligibility criteria for groups receiving money from the General Student Services Fund. SSFC Chair David Vines said he would like to create a special committee to look for alternatives to current SSFC eligibility criteria.

The current eligibility criteria focuses on direct services and has not been changed for the past five years, Vines said. Every single year Vines has served on ASM, he has seen a rush toward the end of the term where people want to change or amend the eligibility criteria and he would like to get a jump start on the issue this year, he said.

“There has been a lot of discussion about whether or not the direct service criteria are the best thing for [GSSF] groups on campus,” Vines said.

Vines is writing a resolution to ask ASM Student Council for the creation of the special committee to be voted on at their meeting next Wednesday, he said.

The committee will be open to SSFC members and student government, as well as former and current GSSF group members who have been involved in the eligibility process and understand how it works, Vines said.

“I’m hopeful that at the end of the day we will be able to arrive at some sort of consensus that will create some balance that ensures that groups will be able to provide services to campus and engage in creating a public forum on campus while ensuring that students’ money is being spent responsibly by our student government,” Vines said.

SSFC also approved an eligibility application extension from the MultiCultural Student Coalition as they met criteria for late application by filing within 10 days of the eligibility date, not having a late application in previous years and having extenuating circumstances.

MCSC’s eligibility hearing will be on Sept. 19 and a decision will be made on Sept. 23.