General Student Services Fund

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Policy Number:
UW-2115
Responsible Office:
Associated Students of Madison (ASM)

University Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

This policy outlines expectations made by the Student Services Finance Committee for the General Student Services Funded budgets for registered student organizations.

Definitions:
Authorized Signer
Denotes a student employee who has been through the necessary training and is authorized to appropriately expense a budget provided by the Student Services Finance Committee.
Event Broadcasting
For the purposes of this policy, submitting or adding an event to today.wisc.edu
Fiscal Year
The period that is used for accounting purposes and preparing financial statements. For the university, the fiscal year is from July 1 – June 30. (e.g, FY25 = July 1st, 2024 – June 30th, 2025)
General Student Services Fund (GSSF)
A funding program that provides comprehensive funding to RSOs who fill gaps in campus programming and organize educational Core Programs that contribute to the campus' marketplace of ideas, facilitate experiential learning, or provide leadership development opportunities that are open to all UW-Madison Students.
Multimedia
Any video or slideshow publication
Registered Student Organization (RSO)
A group, composed mainly of, and directed by, students, consisting of at least four students and an advisor, and which has filed all appropriate registration forms with the Office for Student Organizations, Leadership & Involvement (SOLI) and been confirmed by SOLI as meeting the eligibility criteria for registration.
Student Services Finance Committee (SSFC)
The financial branch of the Associated Students of Madison, which is charged with allocating student segregated fees.
Scope:

This policy applies to any Registered Student Organization seeking funding or who is currently funded by the General Student Services Fund (GSSF).

Policy:
  1. Student Employees
    1. No student employee may be paid for:
      1. Travel time, time spent at conferences, staff development seminars, retreat time not focused on training directly relevant to the General Student Services Fund (GSSF), in-services, or similar activities.
      2. Time spent over the summer outside of Dane County, excluding authorized signers.
    2. All time sheets must be submitted and approved by the Authorized Signers in accordance with the campus bi-weekly payroll system.
    3. Prior period time sheets will be accepted and paid, but will be considered a violation of the wage policy.
    4. Additionally, Student employees must record their hours worked in a wage accountability form. Wage accountability forms must:
      1. Note the date, time in, time out, location, and work accomplished for each student employee.
      2. Be kept for the entirety of the fiscal year and submitted to the Student Services Finance Committee (SSFC) with the mid-year and end-of-year report.
      3. Be kept up to date with each time sheet.
      4. Reviewed by the Authorized Signer for consistency.
      5. Be available upon request by the SSFC.
    5. No student employee may work over their allocated hours per week in any given week without a wage exemption form. Wage exemptions must be approved by the SSFC with a three-fourths (3/4) vote prior to the end of the pay period in which the exemption occurs. Failure to do so will result in a wage violation. At any point when the SSFC does not meet, wage exemptions are at the SSFC Chair's discretion.
    6. No student employee may work over 29 hours in a week under any circumstances, per Affordable Care Act requirements. This includes time worked in other jobs.
  2. Meals
    1. Food cost per diem for students, faculty, staff, and guests must fall within state guidelines.
    2. RSOs must comply with UW-3039 Business Meals and must provide documentation that supports:
      1. That a meal is primarily business focused (i.e., supporting applicant’s programming).
      2. A meal was needed to conduct business (e.g., business was conducted over a typical mealtime)
      3. That a meal is integral to programmatic success
      4. The inclusion of food provides additional educational benefit in support of the broader programmatic goal.
    3. Exemptions to the food policy may only be made with a two-thirds (2/3) vote by the SSFC.
  3. Logo and Disclaimer
    1. The ASM Logo and Disclaimer must be included on every printed or digital advertisement, publication, or other media in which segregated fees are used in the creation of such media (e.g., printing costs, development costs, staff wages).
    2. The ASM Logo and Disclaimer can be any color, but it must be readable.
    3. No orders can solicit for donations, sales of promotional materials, or admission.
    4. Printing Placement
      1. The following items do not require the ASM logo or disclaimer:
        1. Business Cards
        2. Stickers smaller than two inches by five inches (2" x 5")
      2. Size and Location Requirements
        1. On an 8.5 inch by 11 inch (8.5" x 11") sheet of paper, the ASM Logo and Disclaimer must not be less than three-fourths of an inch (3/4”) in height.
        2. On banners, the ASM Logo and Disclaimer must be seen from 10 feet away.
        3. In booklets, magazines, and brochures the ASM Logo and Disclaimer must be on one of the following locations:
          1. Front Cover
          2. Back Cover
          3. Inside Front Cover
          4. Dedicated Acknowledgement Page
    5. Electronic Placement
      1. Social Media
        1. The bio of each GSSF social media page must include "Funded in part by the Associated Students of Madison."
        2. If there is no bio option on a social media platform used by a GSSF group, they must consult with the SSFC Chair on appropriate ways to include ASM funding acknowledgement on that platform.
      2. All multimedia must contain the ASM Logo and Disclaimer and display them for at least five consecutive seconds at the beginning, end, or during the credits of the publication.
    6. If the ASM Logo and Disclaimer are unable to be included on the item or media (e.g. size of item is too small, shape of the item, design constraints), the SSFC must approve the exemption in writing prior to the order, service, or publication of the item or media.
    7. It is the SSFC Chair's responsibility to contact all involved parties any time an exemption is granted. Involved parties include the SSFC Financial Specialist, vendor, GSSF organization leaders and other organizations contributing to the advertising.
  4. Budget Limitations
    1. No GSSF group shall be allocated a budget of more than $200,000.
    2. Employees
      1. All paid employee hours must be included in one of the following budget sections:
        1. Employee costs for program budgets
        2. Overhead hours in the salary summary
      2. Student hourly salaries will be budgeted as written in the ASM Bylaws - Section 1.10(2) - Standard Wage
      3. Total employee costs must not exceed 70% of the organization's total budget; barring a three-fourths (3/4) vote by SSFC to approve the full budget.
    3. Apparel
      1. The total cost of apparel for any GSSF group must not exceed $500 dollars for a single fiscal year.
      2. Apparel must be approved as essential to the success of a particular program or programs by the SSFC.
      3. Exceptions to the apparel policy may only be made with a two-thirds (2/3) vote by the SSFC.
    4. Advertising
      1. The total advertising budget for any organization must not exceed 5% of the total budget of that organization.
      2. Exceptions to the advertising policy may only be made with a two-thirds (2/3) vote by the SSFC.
    5. Travel
      1. The term total travel budget refers to the total travel budget line within GSSF Applications which is also known as "travel training recruiting" elsewhere in the budget.
      2. For any event, a travel budget of $500 per person must not be exceeded.
      3. The total travel budget for any organization may not exceed $5,000.
      4. Exceptions to the travel policy may only be granted by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the SSFC.
    6. Groups receiving funding from GSSF in the immediately previous fiscal year:
      1. Will not be granted a budget increase of more than 10% from the prior fiscal year's approved budget, unless a new core program has been proposed.
      2. Will not be granted a budget increase of more than 25% from the prior fiscal year's approved budget.
      3. Must provide reasonable cause and an effective solution for budget returns exceeding 25% during the immediately previous fiscal year.
      4. Will not be granted a budget increase if budget returns have exceeded 25% in the two immediately previous fiscal years.
      5. Exceptions to the budget increase policy may only be granted by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the SSFC.
  5. Budget Alterations
    1. All requests for budget alterations must correctly complete the Budget Alteration Request Narrative and Budget Alteration Request Excel and have it approved by the SSFC.
    2. All alterations involving a purchase must be submitted at least three weeks before the purchase will be made.
    3. Limitations
      1. Funds cannot be moved from the core or supportive programming lines to the salaries line.
      2. The following alteration requests require a three-fourths (3/4) vote for SSFC approval:
        1. Cumulative requests to alter more than 10% of the total budget during the current fiscal year
        2. Moving funds out of the core programming line
        3. Moving funds out of the salaries line
      3. Alterations requiring additional SSFC approval must be submitted three weeks before the end of the ASM Session.
    4. The SSFC Chair can request the group to present their alteration to the full committee.
  6. University Events Calendar Broadcasting
    1. Any student organization for which the SSFC allocated a budget must broadcast event information at least seven days prior to any non-requested core programming event.
    2. Broadcasting an event entails submitting (adding) the event to today.wisc.edu. The submission (posting) must include:
      1. The title of the event
      2. The date, time, and location of the event
      3. A 50-200 word description of the event
    3. Once per year, the GSSF Funding Advisor must provide instructions to GSSF organizations on how to broadcast their events.
Related UW-Madison Policies:

UW-3039 Business Meals

Related UW–Madison Documents, Web Pages, or Other Resources:

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:
Student Services Finance Committee Chair
Policy Manager:
Student Services Finance Committee Chair
Contact:
Student Services Finance Committee Chair -- SSFC Chair, ssfc@asm.wisc.edu, (608) 265-4276
ASM Funding Advisor -- Abbie Wagaman-Hartzell, awagaman@wisc.edu
Effective Date:
04-19-2021
Revised Dates:

07-22-2025

Reviewed Dates:

07-22-2025

Retrieved:
07-29-2025 04:49:04