Wisconsin State Statute 36.09(5) asserts, “Students in consultation with the chancellor and subject to the final confirmation of the board shall have the responsibility for the disposition of those student fees which constitute substantial support for campus student activities.” When the merger of the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin State University systems happened in 1974, state statute 36.09(5) guaranteed students direct purview over their “Student Activity Fees,” institutionalizing students’ role in shared governance.
Our argument that UW System Financial Policy 50, or F50, contradicts existing statutes pertaining to student fee autonomy does not revolve around whether or not the Board of Regents is a state agency, as was suggested in an Oct. 17 editorial, “Tread Softly on F50.” Clearly they are: The Board of Regents is directly appointed by the governor and is considered to be a state agency, just as the individual UW institutions and campuses are.
It is clear to students across the state that F50, which makes the distinction between how and who spends student fees, contradicts the spirit of student participation in shared governance, not to mention volumes of state law, case law and UW System policy.
What we are asking is not for students to be the sole reviser of F50, but for the Board of Regents to form a committee with student involvement, and to hold a comprehensive review of F50 that would clarify these many contradictions and which would then be promulgated under UW System administrative code.
The administrative rule making process is the only means that the System may use to re-interpret a Wisconsin State Statute. This process is clearly laid out in state statute 227.01(13). The reinterpretation of F50 first took place in 1978 when university administration made the distinction between allocable and non-allocable student fees. This was an unilateral decision by university administration that was eventually made into an overarching System policy in the 1980s. It is clear that now is the time for another reinterpretation.
There is true need for this review, the major reason being that it is inconsistent with most other practices we operate under. Recently, U.S. Federal District Judge Lynn Adelman wrote in an opinion concerning UW that “decision makers have had trouble determining what Policy F50 means,” “Policy F50 [is] not a model of clear draftsmanship” and “even Chancellor Martin has expressed dissatisfaction with Policy F50.” When a federal judge feels the necessity to weigh in on the contradictory and confusing nature of a policy there can be no doubt about the necessity for change. F50, it’s time to go.
The dangers of amending UW System financial policy described by the Herald display a basic misunderstanding of the differences between amending a policy, creating an administrative rule and amending state law. Our campaign is to require an illegal policy to be vetted through the rule making process and brought up to code with the rights guaranteed to students under state statute 36.09(5). The Legislature and governor are only minimally involved in the rule making process, and at no point does this process allow for amendments to state law, from which students derive their rights. We are confident that despite the current political climate students have a strong case for correcting an illegal policy that has already stood for too long.
If successful, students will be charged with the task of creating an infrastructure to properly manage and distribute these fees, and as the Herald points out, this will not be easy. The warning, however, that we ought to be careful what we wish for because we might not be ready for the responsibility, does not make us shy away from this. Rather, it reminds us that in times like this we need to rise to the occasion and assert that we, the students, are ready and able to restore student authority over our money. We’ve got a plan, and we’re ready to make this happen, because if we tread too softly, we just might sink.
Sarah Neibart ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and international studies. She is the chair of SSFC.
