The Associated Students of Madison voted unanimously at a meeting Wednesday to support legislation that would clarify student control of their segregated fees.
A group of ASM members have been working since the beginning of the year on clarifying 36.09(5) of the University of Wisconsin System statutes, honing in on the responsibilities and powers students have within shared governance.
A main focus of the legislation is the push for students to have more information regarding the budgets of non-allocable funded groups, which allocate money to non-academic groups on campus. As of now, Student Services Finance Committee does not have full authority over the budgets of these groups.
Shared Governance Committee Chair Sarah Neibart, one of the members who has been working with the lobbying efforts at the Capitol, stressed the importance of students having “full purview” over the allocation of the fees they pay.
“I think what ASM has been working on for the past two years … is probably the biggest shared governance issue of our time,” Neibart said. “As students, we deserve the proper information to make budgetary decisions.”
Committee members also presented updates on the university’s Diversity Plan, the first draft of which will be released Feb. 18.
University Affairs Chair Hannah Kinsella said she hopes to see Student Council lend insight on the draft once released, ensuring issues faced by students are being addressed in the plan.
Kinsella said the biggest priority is accountability, and the only way the plan will be effective is through enforcement.
“If we put out a lot of recommendations and the accountability does not come through, we have failed in my mind,” Kinsella said.
Rep. Justin Bloesch, a student member on the Ad-Hoc Diversity Planning Committee, noted the delays associated with the issuance of the plan, which was initially commissioned Jan. 2013.
After the draft is released, Bloesch said there will be another round of listening session before a final draft will be compiled sometime in May.
Sustainability Chair Will Mulhern also announced the upcoming Sustainability Fair, which will focus on reducing food waste on campus. The year’s second fair will take place on April 3 from 5-7 p.m. in the Education Building.
