Something as simple as signing a lease can seem terrifying to freshmen who have only been on campus for a few months. As young adults, students have little to no experience with legal matters and do not always have the resources to seek help.
This fall, former Associated Students of Madison representative Zach Provato brought a proposal to the members of Student Services Finance Committee to add a $15,000 line item to the 2017-’18 segregated fees budget and create a Student Legal Services.
The initial proposal was based on programs run by other Big Ten schools, namely the University of Minnesota, and other UW schools. According to SSFC member Zaakir Abdul-wahid, the initial amount was intended to hire someone who could craft the framework for an office.
He said that SSFC amended the budget proposal to $50,000 because the body understood other schools had a budget of more than $1 million and wanted to give the project a full semester for a trial run.
However, when the budget went before ASM’s Student Council for final approval, representatives voted to remove the addition.
“Our peers should not be taxed for an idea” said Chair Carmen Goséy, who originally raised concerns.
Goséy said that she felt the proposal was thrown together without a plan of action. She also noted concerns about the plan’s use of arbitrary numbers without going through a mandatory bidding process.
Over winter break, Goséy met with Nancy Lynch of the Office of Legal Affairs to investigate what the services could and couldn't be used for. Lynch prepared a summary that stated according to university policy, the service could not be used to represent students against the university or system and its agents, other students, copyright, immigration matters and more.
Additionally representatives realized that in order to hire a lawyer, they would need governor’s approval and would need to present officials bids for other lawyers.
“It was kinda swept in the end of the season for us,” said Abdul-wahid. “It took reflecting and realizing Provato wasn't gonna be there and having winter break for us to realize that some of the requirements to actual get the legal services into place.”
After Rep. Provato left to study in Italy, Rep. Brooke Evans and SSFC Vice Chair David Morel became the program's champions.
Morel has been in contact with other UW legal services. While UW-Oshkosh said their service can be used for immigration issues, it remains unclear if UW-Madison has placed this limitation simply at the discretion of administration. Additionally, multiple representatives expressed concern if the service would be approved by the governor.
Evans is currently working to assemble a task force. She said the idea of a legal services has been brought up in ASM for over seven years, but currently they have very little information about implementation requirements and limitations, and what students needs actually are.
“For some reason, it seems super bizarre to me that for the past two years I can’t find anyone to give me legal counsel,” Evans said.
