The Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs Committee discussed possible action the group could take regarding tuition transparency at its meeting Monday.
Mara Matovitch, ASM’s shared governance campaign director, explained that the tuition transparency campaign will seek to clarify procedures surrounding the General 101 Fund, which includes tuition money from each UW System school, as well as state tax dollars allocated to the UW System.
Under current policy, tuition dollars are not distinguishable from General Program Revenue, or state-funded dollars, in the 101 fund. Matovitch discussed the idea that tuition and GPR be separated, allowing ASM to work toward a system in which students can discern where exactly their tuition is going.
“We still don’t know what is exactly funded by tuition and what is exactly being funded by GPR,” Matovitch said.
Committee members expressed general support for transparency, although some expressed concerns over the lack of a clear objective, as well as the difficulty of working through the state legislature.
Legislative Affairs member Sally Rohrer, however, said the move could give students more influence.
“It’s kind of threatening to them that we would know exactly where our money is going,” Rohrer said. “It brings about a lot of questions and transparency gives us a lot of power over how our tuition is allocated.”
The committee also discussed preventative measures they can take if the Wisconsin state Legislature introduces another bill proposing concealed carry on UW System campuses.
