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UW holding forum on segregated fees
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Also by Carl Jaeger:
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University of Wisconsin students are encouraged to attend a forum Monday to discuss the changes in segregated fee policies — a fee included in all students' tuition.
The forum will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. in 1111 Humanities and was set up through the Offices of the Dean of Students.
In August, University of Wisconsin Board of Regents President Mark Bradley appointed a committee to review segregated fee polices due to "the increasing number of instances where it appeared that organizations were trying to use these funds inappropriately," said UW System spokesperson David Giroux.
The Segregated Fee System Committee has already met three times this semester and will meet once again Tuesday after the revised segregated fee policies are reviewed at each UW System campus.
Although student groups have expressed concern over the revised policies, Giroux said with the new policies, "students will have the same authority that they have always had."
"The guidelines for making those allocable funding decisions will be clarified as to what constitutes a student-run organization and what doesn't and what kind of guidelines are in place when there is not space on the campus and we have to look elsewhere for the space," Giroux said.
UW Student Rights Campaign chair Rachel Butler said students should be concerned about the segregated fee policy changes, as they are the ones providing the funding.
"Students should and do care about this because we, as students, determine which services we need on this campus and we pay for them with our segregated fees," Butler said. "It’s our money and our campus experience, and we need to be the ones making these decisions."
Butler also said she was worried that the proposed segregated fee policies could potentially take segregated fee decisions from the students and into "the hands of the chancellor."
"This new policy draft, if passed as is, will have effects that reach not only UW-Madison, but campuses across the UW System," Butler said. "These decisions should be left up to students at the campus level to ensure that each campus can serve the needs of its students as the students deem necessary."
After Tuesday's meeting, the Segregated Fee System Committee's policy change recommendations will be forwarded to UW System President Kevin Reilly.
"The president will analyze those recommendations and then share with the [Board of Regents] at the December meeting his decisions," Giroux said.
This year, students paid $429.08 in segregated fees, which funds various student organizations throughout campus, as well as such programs as the ASM Bus Pass and University Health Services.
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Could someone please please please tell me if the seg fees are going to go up to fund the rebuilding of Union South? I know we voted on it like three times, and the last time it was a paper vote and the result was different than the first two votes……but I still don’t know if this is going though. Anyone know?
Yeah, the vote finally passed. The administration had to disqualify 2 other elections, but they stopped once they got the results they wanted. Unfortunately for those of us graduating in May, we’ll never get to eat at the new WID food court.
These Fees are a joke and a disgrace to the educational system. They charge for the education and the extra fee should be dropped or included in tuition. If students want specific activities for a group let that group pay for it themselves not make the rest of us foot the bill for them to waste time.