After intense pressure by UW students and the City Council, Chancellor John Wiley decided to temporarily withdraw international students surveillance fees.
Originally, UW had planned on charging students up to $125 per year for the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System program, in which all universities must track international students studying in the United States to make sure the students are in compliance with their visa conditions.
In order to deal with the loss of funds the university would have acquired from the added charge, UW will use the one-time gift funds to pay for the system for the 2003-’04 academic year.
Dean of Students Luoluo Hong said Wiley made the final decision to throw out the SEVIS fees, which stemmed from dialogue between the Associated Students of Madison, Teaching Assistants’ Association and the International Student Coalition.
“After listening, we thought that we would buy us this short-term solution and examine all possible options,” Hong said.
An advisory committee, chaired by Hong, is made up of students, staff, faculty and administrators and is working together to come up with a permanent solution to the SEVIS funding issue.
However, Hong stressed that although the committee will explore all possible options, the possibility of a fee in the future has not been completely ruled out.
Students who have been part of the extensive push for elimination are pleased with the announcement that came as a shock to many and proved exciting as well.
“This is a very important first step … but it’s certainly not the end of the battle,” said Shireen Ally, Chair of the International Caucus and graduate student from South Africa.
Ally also noted how exciting this is, however, and stated that she along with other students are still concerned because UW has not committed to getting rid of the fee in fall 2004.
Even through concerns Ally said that this step is very exciting for all students at UW.
“This is not just a victory for international students but one for the entire university,” Ally said.
Ally also mentioned students’ pleasure with UW, noting what Ally called as an obvious mistake.
“We are extremely thrilled by the recent decision,” Ally said. “We applaud the university for rectifying the mistake they realized they made.”
Students have agreed to participate in the advisory committee that will work to come up with a permanent solution, however, Ally emphasized that the students are not in charge of coming up with this solution.
“Our position has always been that SEVIS is an administrative responsibility and the burden should rest on their shoulders,” Ally said, noting that students are still willing to be representatives in the decision-making process though.
Individuals in the public and campus community interested in helping to offset the cost of the system can contribute donations to the International Student Fund that the UW Foundation is the in process of putting together. An anonymous donor has agreed to give up to half of the total costs if the new fund is unable to reach $330,000 by July 1.
