Student Services Finance Committee voted unanimously to deny Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow funding eligibility in a meeting Monday, due to controversies over the group’s services.
An organization must undergo eligibility hearings every two years and prove it spends 51 percent of its time providing “direct services,” or “identifiable,” “educational” and “tailorable” services, which are available to all University of Wisconsin-Madison students.
In last week’s eligibility hearing, CFACT representatives said their organization plays an important role on campus as an advocacy service for free-market policies with limited regulation.
According to SSFC Chair Ellie Bruecker, many representatives found CFACT’s proposed direct services, advocacy training and stewardship training, to be confusing.
“Some members on the committee felt they did not have a clear and identifiable direct service,” Bruecker said. “They couldn’t really figure out from the application or the presentation or the questions what exactly their direct services did.”
Other members felt the group did provide clear and direct services, but found the group did not meet the additional criteria to spend a majority of its time performing those services. All members’ calculations showed the group spent less than 51 percent of its time providing direct services.
However, Bruecker said she is hoping to work with CFACT to explore other funding options, possibly through grants from the ASM Finance Committee.
Also in the meeting, the committee approved funding eligibility for a new student organization, Medieval Warriorcraft League, saying the group met the necessary criteria with its educational and weaponry training sessions as unique direct services to the student body.
