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Student organizations cannot use
segregated fees to pay for off-campus rent or salaries of
non-University of Wisconsin employees, according to a final decision
announced at Thursday’s UW Board of Regents meeting.

Despite all 26 UW System campuses and
colleges collecting and distributing segregated fees, the policy
changes will only affect student organizations on the UW-Madison
campus.

Don Mash, UW System executive vice
president, read a statement on behalf of UW System President Kevin
Reilly, who was not at the meeting due to a family illness. The
statement said Reilly agreed with the recommendations forwarded to
him by the committee set up to review the issues.

Mash said segregated fees are "not
intended to serve as a kind of United Way campaign for all kinds of
causes, no matter how worthwhile they may be."

"Under the policy recommended by
President Reilly … segregated university fees will continue to
support important campus student opportunities and programs provided
by recognized student organizations," Mash said. "The adoption of
this financial administration policy will not harm the exceptional
experience of UW students. Rather, it will preserve the proud
tradition of shared governance while demanding equal levels of
accountability for all university funds."

Students must work together with
administrators to protect the system of collecting and dispersing
segregated fees for student organizations, Mash said.

"We must be weary of increasing
pressure from large, self-sustained nonprofit groups seeking to
require additional funding for general operations not directly
focused on the unique educational interests of UW System students,"
Mash said.

Reilly’s decision on the policy changes
received mixed reviews from both the regents and members of the
committee who submitted the policy changes.

"The definition of government is
going to be an ongoing deliberation; it’s going to be case by case,
and we just have to get comfortable with people operating on good
faith, meaning the entities of government, students, and the
chancellors," Regent Danae Davis said. "I’m hoping that this
policy will in the end work at Madison, but I’m fully expecting that
if it doesn’t, we will see it again."

Alex Gallagher, chair of the Student
Services Finance Committee — the organization that allocates
segregated fees at UW — sat on the segregated fee review committee
and disagreed with Reilly’s decision, saying the method of creating
the recommendations lacked "the type of dialog that is necessary to
really prominent constructive policy creation."

"I really feel like in order to make
the best policies here, the best course of action here would be to
amend this back to Madison and encourage discussion, deliberation on
the part of the chancellor, and on the part of the students,"
Gallagher said.

Gallagher also said he questioned only
having one UW-Madison student voice on the review committee — him —
as the changes and controversies were only an issue on the Madison
campus.

UW-Madison Provost Pat Farrell said he
hoped Reilly’s decision will settle the long-time issue.

"On the Madison campus, at least from
the administration viewpoint, the frame that we tend to adopt is the
one that recognizes these are state funds. There are statuary
requirements about shared responsibility for deciding how they should
be spent," Farrell said. "I think the policy, as written, and
apparently as accepted, will help clarify a number of the issues that
have been raised."

Regent Jeffrey Bartell said the new
policy has a "lack of clarity and consistency," and recommended
more time be spent on the issue. He also asked why the regents did
not discuss the policy change before it was decided on.

"It would seem we play some role with
respect to this policy," Bartell said. "I’m really puzzled as to
why we are not being asked to participate in this discussion."