General Student Services Fund Eligibility Criteria

Last updated: April 20, 2020

• Must be a Registered Student Organization with the Center for Leadership and Involvement
• Must submit an eligibility application on time (unless granted an extension by the SSFC ahead of the due date)
• Must have written governing documents that describe the mission of the organization
• Must not require dues to be a member when receiving GSSF fudning
• Must not receive funding from other areas funded by the Student Segregated Fee (unless proper co-sponsorship plans are in place)

• A student from the organization must attend the group's eligibility hearing
• The organization must complete the eligibility application and explain the Core and Supportive Programming
• Core Programming:
• Meets all of the following:
• Open to all UW-Madison students
• Has an Educational Benefit:
• Teamwork and problem solving
• Civic knowledge and engagement
• Intercultural as well as cross-cultural knowledge and competence
• Peer mentoring and personal development
• UW-Madison students must be 75% of the beneficiaries of the program.
• Beneficiaries are those who receive programming or resources from the organization
• Meets one of the following:
• Provides a service to UW-Madison students that is available upon request (workshops, meeting groups, peer mentoring, etc.)
• Facilitates experiential learning
• Is a Campaign, or an organized set of activities that relate to the organization's mission and promote public awareness and student engagement with the intention of generation institutional or social change
• Provides leadership development opportunities to UW-Madison students
• Supportive Programming:
• Meets any of the following criteria:
• Not accessible to all UW-Madison students
• Does not provide an educational benefit found in Core Programming
• UW-Madison students are less than 75% of the beneficiaries of the program
• The program does not meet any of the engagement criteria found in Core Programming
• The program is a lecture, presentation, or entertainment provided by people outside of UW-Madison.
• The program is for select individuals in the organization (such as leadership development, general member meetings, retreats or trainings, etc.)
• The program is a publication or a library
• The organization must complete a researched and documented budget application, which includes a budget excel and budget narrative.
• If the group has received funding previously from the GSSF (frequently referred to as "returning GSSF organizaitons"), they must have achieved the following:
• Submitted their End-of-Year and Mid-Year reports on time (unless they were granted an extension by the SSFC ahead of the due date).
• Spent funds efficiently to provide programs in line with their approved budget for that year
• Provided the programs to the best of their abilities given the circumstances of that year
• Demonstrated the ability to provide their Core Programs and requestable programs they were granted eligiblity for
• Any organization applying cannot be determined to have intentionally violated ASM or UW System financial policies, state or federal law, or the group's written governing documents since September 1 of the previous year from any entity outside of the SSFC.

• The "focus" or time spent (including salaries, supplies, resources, etc.) should be on Core Programming, not Supportive Programming.
• Core Programming can be tailored or altered to meet the needs of UW-Madison students but must stay within the mission of the organization.
• Organizations must have at least one Core Program that is available upon request.
• An organization's Core Programming must be continually available throughout the academic year, not all in one semester or time of academic year.
• The organization must show that their Core Programming is substantially different (meaning that it offers improved student accessibility, provides a unique perspective or level of expertise, or uses a distinct method of implementation that isn't be offered at UW-Madison already) from other areas on campus. As the campus changes, organizations will need to keep in mind that they must continue to be substantially different