WISPIRG

From Badger Herald Wiki

Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, or WISPIRG, is a student organization on campus that, according to the group’s website, “takes on powerful interests on behalf of Wisconsin citizens.” ^[1] The group has been on the UW-Madison campus for almost thirty years. Each year, the organization decides on causes to support, such as health care reform, text book prices, etc., and then organizes campaigns to garner support for these causes.

According to the group’s website, students can get involved in the organization by volunteering or taking part in an internship. The group also offers jobs for recent college graduates.

Contents 1 Basic Organization Information 2 Funding/ Eligibility Controversy 3 External Links 3.1 Notable Articles 3.2 References

Basic Organization Information

The group has been classified as a General Student Service Fund (GSSF) group^[2], meaning that it is funded by student segregated fees. Each year, GSSF eligibility and budgets are determined by the Student Services Finance Committee (SSFC), a committee that is part of the larger Associated Students of Madison.

Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) wishing to draw their budget from the university are required to request funding through SSFC each year. In order to be eligible, a group must provide direct services to students. SSFC eligibility applications must show a group spends 51 percent of their time producing and conducting these services.

Presently, the organization has a staff of nine individuals, as well as a core of volunteers. During the 2010-11 school year, the group listed their campaign priorities as Sustainable campus, 21st century transportation, health care reform, new voters project, hunger and homelessness, higher education, textbooks, consumer action, and local projects. The organization holds three daily meetings in their office so that students interested in volunteering for a campaign can receive more information.

According to WISPIRG's website, some of the groups major accomplishments include raising over $2 million to fight hunger and homelessness, and successful lobbying efforts for bills such as The CARD Act (designed to help fight abuses in the credit card and banking industry) as well as a provision for cheaper text books in the Higher Education Opportunity Act passed in 2008.^[3]

Funding/ Eligibility Controversy

In September 2010, WISPIRG was denied its application for funding eligibility by SSFC. According to the committee, the benefices of the group’s programming included individuals outside of the UW-Madison community, and actually claimed to have more than 1 million beneficiaries for one of their campaigns (According to SSFC guidelines, 75 percent of a group’s benefices must be UW-Madison students).

WISPIRG received $128,378 for their 2010-2011 budget from SSFC.^[4]

WISPIRG appealed the eligibility decision to the student judiciary and was given a new eligibility hearing before SSFC in February 2011.^[5] Although the group changed redefined its direct service definition as experimental learning gained through the training sessions offered by the organization. However, SSFC committee members ultimately determined that “experimental learning” could not be a direct service because it was actually the outcome of a program, and did not benefit students that were not already part of the organization.^[6] Additionally, SSFC members raised concerns that the group’s campaigns were not tailorable to students, since they the group only endorsed specific causes.

WISPIRG appealed the decision to the student judiciary again, earning a second hearing before the SSFC. The move created tension between SSFC and the student judiciary, with SSFC Chairman Matt Manes moving to impeach judiciary Vice Chief Justice Tim Hogan upon hearing of the second appeal. Manes stated that he had no intention of giving WISPIRG the second hearing. The student judiciary contended that the only way the SSFC could have arrived to their previous appellation was "through an unreasonable interpretation or inconsistent application" of eligibility criteria.^[7]

External Links

Notable Articles

• WISPIRG Denied Funding by SSFC

• SSFC Denies WISPIRG Funding for 2nd Time in School Year

• WISPIRG Receives Second Try For Funds

References