Saying the Athletics Department is a part of the university, student government members voted to call on the department for increased financial support to fund the Recreational Sports $223 million Master Plan.

Additionally, the Associated Students of Madison debated the new diversity plan and reviewed changes to bring the university’s sexual assault policies in line with federal standards.

UW Athletics resolution

ASM and the Teaching Assistants’ Association formally called for Athletics to contact donors and designate future revenue to help fund the Rec Sports Master Plan.

ASM requested the commitment from Athletics be comparable to contributions of the chancellor, state and segregated fees, which range from $30 million to $127 million.

Members said student-athletes are part of the campus community, whether through recruitment or walking on teams, and these individuals as university students contribute to a successful Athletics program.

“It’s difficult to see Athletics as a separate entity. The community the logo, the name — it cannot exist without the university,” Rep. Justin Bloesch said.

ASM Chair David Gardner will write a letter requesting a greater commitment from the department to Athletic Director Barry Alvarez later this month.

Campus diversity plan

A draft of UW’s new diversity plan will be released to the public this month.

Ad Hoc Diversity Plan Committee co-chairs Ruth Litovsky and Ryan Adserias presented the first draft of the diversity plan to ASM.

The plan features a list of nine goals, which include improving coordination of campus diversity planning, developing and applying scholarly expertise to issues of inclusion and diversity at UW and improving institutional access through effective recruitment of a diverse student body, faculty and staff.

“We conceptualized this draft as more of a framework, not a document that will live on a shelf. If an issue involving diversity arises, it can be added to the document,” Litovsky said.

ASM members raised concerns about leadership accountability, the effects tuition increases have on diversity and how to retain low income or first generation students.

Sexual assault policy changes

As a part of a nationwide sweep on universities’ sexual assault policies, the dean of student’s office is asking ASM to support the chapter 17 addendum, which allows universities to construct their own policy on sexual assault.

UW currently is not compliant with federal government requirements.

Currently, only the respondent has the right to appeal the case, even all the way up to the chancellor’s office, Gardner said.

For instance, under current policy, a victim of a sexual assault does not have the right to appeal the decision, Gardner said. The victim may not feel safe on campus, but cannot do anything regarding the case, he said.

To achieve compliance, UW officials are trying to apply equal rights to appeal for both the complainant and the respondent.