The Student Services Finance Committee, a part of the Associated Students of Madison, met Monday evening to begin discussing the allocation of funds to approximately 25 organizations on campus for the 2005-'06 academic year.
The SSFC, comprised of 17 UW-Madison students, works to distribute nearly $20 million to various on-campus groups. Approximately $7 million of this goes toward student organizations such as the Women's Campus Center, SAFE Nighttime Services and LGBT Campus Center according to SSFC Chair and UW-Madison junior Janell Wise.
The SSFC has the power to raise, lower or freeze funding as well as accept or deny funding to new campus organizations.
\Our main goal is to keep fees reasonable within campus organizations,"" Wise said.
The SSFC also helps oversee University Health Services, Recreational Sports, Child Care Tuition Assistance Program and Wisconsin Union budgets, which take up the remaining $13 million of the financial budget, but they do not have final say on budget decisions regarding those particular student services.
In order for campus organizations to receive funding, they must first submit an eligibility form. If approved of the six eligibility criteria, all organizations will automatically receive $4,888.
If organizations wish to receive more funding they must submit a request and present their concerns to the committee at one of the weekly meetings in a 15-minute forum followed by a 30-minute question and answer session.
""Some organizations have much larger budgets, upwards of $300,000, but as long as they are able to justify what they are doing to benefit the campus they are still reasonable,"" Wise said.
Funding for the organizations come from segregated fees from UW-Students' tuition. Every student pays General Student Service Funds which on average equals out to around $300-400 per student per year.
""We affect every student on campus, therefore, we are forced to ethically and responsibly allocate funds,"" said ASM Finance Chair and UW-Madison junior Barb Kiernoziak.
Segregated fees not only provide funding for various organizations, but also help pay for student bus passes, the unions on campus and ASM, according to SSFC Vice-Chair and UW-Madison senior Kevin Otten.
""We take a lot of pride in our system, in the fact that we work a year ahead. Also, other schools don't have the power we do with students making substantial financial decisions about their school that add to the campus community,"" Wise said.
