Segregated University Fees
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Segregated University Fees are a portion of university tuition that is considered separate from general purpose revenue. Segregated fees are used to pay for a variety of student services and groups. For this reason, they are often referred to as "Student Activity Fees" by other universities.
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UW-Madison's segregated fees
As with all UW System schools, segregated fees are broken into two categories; allocable fees fund the student government and eligible student groups while non-allocable fees fund operational costs for student services and capital projects. Allocable fees are largely controlled by Student Services Finance Committee while non-allocable funding decisions are ultimately made by administrators including the chancellor and UW Board of Regents, with SSFC providing their recommendations to the chancellor.
UW-Madison fees breakdown (2009-10)
Non-Allocable Fees
- Wisconsin Union - $201.10 - Fees pay for building "ready-for-use" operational costs, Union building project and, as of 2010-11, a slight increase in maintenance funds.
- Health services - $156.36 - Fees pay for student health services through University Health Services. 2010-11 budget saw an $8 increase.
- Child Care Tuition - $9.60
- Rec Sports - $25.92 - This funds operations of the Natatorium and Southeast Recreational Facility (SERF)
- SAC Building Fee - $20.04 - funds the repayment of bonds used to build the Student Activity Center/UHS
Allocable Fees
- GSSF - 16.68 - Comprises fee for student groups receiving General Student Service Funds.
- ASM Internal- 17.76 - Includes expenses for all ASM committees and stipends, including Finance Committees grants to student groups.
- Bus Pass- 53.76 - funds the free bus pass for all UW students
- Ancillary- 5.28 - a special fund created for groups that meet a set of criteria. Currently funds WSUM 91.7 FM.
- United Council- 2.00 - membership fees for statewide lobbying group that represents more than half of all UW System schools.
History
The University of Wisconsin began assessing the segregated fee in 1927 in order to pay for maintenance of Memorial Union. Over time, more services were added that drew from the fund. Students played a partial role in administering funds, but their participation was not guaranteed until the creation of the UW System in 1971, which revised state statutes and consolidated rules on segregated fees for all UW System schools. This led to the creation of state statute 36.0.9(5), which gives students the ability to allocate funds dealing directly with student government activities or student groups.
This stipulation was challenged in 1977, when the budget proposed by UW-Milwaukee's chancellor Werner A. Baum greatly differed from that proposed by the UW Milwaukee Student Association. The Board of Regents then heard the appeal of the student association and ruled in their favor, thus establishing a set process for student appeals. Another appeal came in 1987, when the Wisconsin Student Association challenged the SERF process of checking identification cards. This time, the Board of Regents ruled in favor of administration, adopting a document known as RPD 88-6 (known now as RPD 30-5) that spells out the student's role of participation in reviewing budgets for non-allocable projects.
The biggest challenge to segregated fees, however, came in 1996, when UW-Madison undergraduate Scott Southworth, along with two other students, challenged the validity of allocable segregated fees. They said funding student groups or political groups whose ideology they personally disagreed with violated their First Amendment rights. Although U.S. District Court and Court of Appeals sided with the students, an appeal by the UW Board of Regents to the U.S. Supreme Court reversed those decisions, saying the allocable system was legal because it was funding a "limited public forum" and that they could continue funding students groups as long as the decisions were "viewpoint neutral," meaning they could not take a group's ideology or mission into consideration when making funding decisions.
The Southworth case greatly altered the way in which allocable fees were distributed. First off, a previous policy that allowed funding to be decided (at least partially) by student referenda was scrapped, as the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled such a policy was in violation of viewpoint neutrality. Furthermore, UW System administration lifted a prohibition on funding religious groups or politically partisan groups, as that policy also violated viewpoint neutrality. Also, UW System policy stipulated that each student government must develop a set of funding criteria in conjunction with the chancellor, provide a record of funding-deliberations, decisions and work to develop a standard appeals process when disagreement arises between students and the chancellor.
Problems following Southworth with funding
Following the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the UW Board of Regents, part of the case was remanded to District Court Judge John C. Shabazz. In the second Southworth case, Shabaz ruled that UW-Madison's current system of segregated fee distribution was not viewpoint neutral and left too much up to the discretion of Student Services Finance Committee Members. Shabazz gave UW-Madison 60 days to amend their allocation system and criteria to become viewpoint neutral.
Then-ASM Chair Mike Dean responded by outlining a three pronged plan to ensure accountability. First, all SSFC would be tape recorded. Second, Student Judiciary was designated as handling all funding appeals, which would subsequently be more explicitly stated and structured. Lastly, student organizations wishing to apply for funding would have to fill out a checklist of funding criteria which would then be submitted to SSFC for review. UW System also made changes to its overall policy seg fee policy, labeled F20.
On Jan 29, SSFC approved the changes to SSFC policy. However, some critics, including certain members of ASM's finance committee and UW political science professor Donald Downs claimed the changes were not enough and still left too much discretion up to SSFC. ASM signed off on the changes as a whole on Feb 1, 2001. UW student Scott Southworth criticized ASM's actions and predicted that the ensuing struggle for compliance "will end" the segregated fee system.
Shabazz once again ruled the system unconstitutional, but the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his decision, saying instead that SSFC members cannot use "unbridled discretion" in their decision making.
Measures to tighten student group funding
In the 2007-08 academic year, SSFC made moves to tighten their discretion on GSSF funding criteria. In addition to the denial of Rape Crisis Center (which was denied because it was not a registered student organization), Hillel, CFACT, Wunk Sheek, Polygon and CALS Student Council were all denied funding on the belief by SSFC that their services did not constitute a "additional significant component" outside of events and leadership opportunities. After many lawsuits filed with Student Judiciary and controversy, SSFC rewrote their eligibility criteria, focusing on "direct services." These new criteria made clear that a group could only be eligible for GSSF funds if their direct services to the campus (excluding events or series of events) constituted "more than 50 percent" of their total services. This became a crucial distinction when Campus Women's Center, in 2009, applied for funding claiming a exact 50 percent direct service contribution. SSFC determined CWC was not eligible for funding.
