In three weeks, the Associated Students of Madison Reserve Board will convene to decide the fate of an estimated $830,000 of student segregated fees. This piece is intended to explain the history and process of seg-fee reserves.

I'm sure the first thought in your mind is, "ASM has $800,000 of students' money. They must have overcharged all of us." Let me assure you, that isn't the case at all. The amount of total seg fees needed is determined by SSFC, a body comprised of 17 students. SSFC forwards this amount to the UW Office of Budget, Planning & Analysis, which estimates what enrollment will be and then determines how much each student must pay in seg fees. The reserves result from the difference between estimated and actual enrollment — not budgetary slack created by SSFC. A smaller portion of the reserves comes from unspent monies by student service groups, such as the city bus-pass program, MCSC and CCTAP.

Prior to last year, all seg-fee reserves were controlled by the Office of the Dean of Students — completely devoid of student input. This process was often questioned by student leaders, as there was little, if any, transparency of how decisions were made. ASM fought this process and the students voted to create the Reserve Board, giving students more seg-fee autonomy. The fact that students can completely control reserves — something unheard of at most universities — was a huge victory for students here.

Now that I've covered the bases, I'll answer the inevitable question about what's going to happen with the 800 big ones. The Reserve Board, comprised of five students, the ASM and SSFC chairs and vice chairs and the Finance Committee chair, will control the destiny of the seg-fee reserves.

The Reserve Board has two alternatives for allocating the superfluous funds. The first option is to fund proposals presented by students. The second is to refund all — or the remainder, the total minus the funds spent on approved proposals — of the reserves to the student body in the form of offsetting seg fees in the upcoming year. In order to qualify for funding, there are three criteria that must be met: the situation or proposal must be deemed an emergency, provide benefit to the student body and will only be a one-time use.

Last year, after hearing proposals from several groups, the Reserve Board opted to return the funds, topping $750,000, to students. The disposition of these funds was felt this year, as every student benefited by a seg-fee reduction of approximately $10 per semester.

Students and organizations are encouraged to submit applications for funding. Applications and instructions are available online at www.asm.wisc.edu and are due by noon Feb. 22.

Eric Varney

ASM