The Associated Students of Madison Student Council approved new eligibility criteria for groups trying to receive funding from student segregated fees in a first vote Wednesday.
Student Council voted 19-3 to approve the new criteria that the Eligibility Criteria Review Committee created to move away from the direct service language of the current criteria.
Student Services Finance Committee member Thuy Pham spoke in open forum and asked council to pass the criteria because she said SSFC and the General Student Services Fund groups worked together to create criteria that wouldn’t be as restrictive to GSSF groups.
“Given this new criteria, the groups can actually go out and do what they think is best for them,” Pham said.
Pham and other SSFC members said they believe the new criteria would be better because groups would not be limited by the current direct service criteria that require groups to calculate and prove that the majority of their services are benefitting students.
Council made one amendment to the criteria that allows SSFC to zero-fund groups if they have had a policy violation in the past year.
Currently, groups who have intentional policy violations lose eligibility for two years and receive minimal funding. With the new amended criteria, groups would lose eligibility for only one year and would not be funded.
Student Council will have a second vote on the criteria next week.
Council members also appointed Andrew Stoiber and David Sweetapple to the Green Fund Advisory Board.
The GFAB oversees applications from registered student organizations requesting funding from the Green Fund. The fund was established earlier in the semester as a means to advocate for sustainable projects on campus.
