Though the formal meetings of the University of Wisconsin student government were halved for next semester, one leader said there will be “in-between sessions” for members to hash out legislation and policy.

Changes within student government will also accompany the spring semester’s initiatives, Associated of Student of Madison Chair Allie Gardner said.

After Wednesday’s Student Council meeting, ASM will be changing meetings from occurring on a weekly basis to gathering bi-weekly. This, Gardner said, will yield a greater level of productivity within the organization.

“We will have an in-between session for communication, talking about issues and building relationships so people won’t be questioning other members’ intentions in meeting,” Gardner said. “The Student Council meetings should not be going till midnight and should be for productive debate on issues that affect students.”

“During Student Council is when representatives come and vote on legislation, but what we really want is to focus on the student committees,” ASM Press Office Director Ade Afolayan added. “That’s what’s really important.”

ASM’s major focus this semester, Gardner said, has been on ensuring shared governance and filling student seats on university committees that handle issues related to students and the UW campus.

“We have almost every single [student representative] seat full,” Gardner said. “This is the greatest number of students we [have] been able to get involved ever.”

Gardner said over the course of the semester, ASM has worked on multiple campaigns to benefit students. She said one ASM focal point has been the issues related to student voters and the new voter ID law.

The Legislative Affairs Committee worked with the UW to provide students with voter IDs and is now working on a Madison Student Vote Coalition to inform students and register them as soon as possible. In a statement provided by ASM, the committee said more than 150 students have been registered so far.

Some of the other initiatives taken by ASM have been laying groundwork for next semester’s campaigns. Gardner said one of ASM’s priorities will be paying attention to getting student representation on the UW Restructuring Task Force. One of the issues being addressed on the task force will be finding the best practices for using student tuition.

“I think students absolutely need to be involved in this,” Gardner said. “There is currently no student or faculty seat, but students need to be involved in lobbying and making their opinions known.”

Gardner also said ASM plans on looking more at university level policies and their effect on students. Looking at these policies and the reasons behind issues students are having with them, she said, will enable ASM to better serve students from that level.

For the upcoming semester the organization will continue to work on campaigns such as hourly student wage protection, the Health Accessibility Project, the Capping Tuition Project, textbook affordability and the Financial Opportunities Fair, scheduled for Feb. 27 through March 2.