UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley announced his decision Aug. 27 that the mandatory international student tracking system called Student and Exchange Visitor Information System will be funded by the university's base budget. Under Wiley's original plan, international students would fund their own surveillance with each student paying approximately $50 per semester during the academic year.
The university's base budget includes tuition, state money, grants and donations, according to Wiley. While the approximately $300,000 fee may mean additional budget cuts in areas that do not directly affect students, Wiley said he thinks the plan is best for the university in the long run.
\We knew that we didn't have money lying around that we could allocate to this,"" he said. ""We honestly didn't see any alternative.""
According to Wiley, if UW-Madison had implemented the original plan, a portion of international students would be unable and/or unwilling to attend the university due to the additional fee. Because many international students play such a vital role in UW-Madison's lucrative research fields, their absence would eventually lead to diminishing university funds, Wiley said.
Additionally, Wiley said he rejected putting the entire financial burden on all UW-Madison students because such a fee would bring tuition closer ""to a private school model that is not sustainable.""
Wiley based his decision upon a recommendation made by Associated Students of Madison representatives, students from the International Student Organizational Coalition, members of the Teaching Assistant Association, faculty, staff and Dean of Students Luoluo Hong, who chaired the committee.
The committee considered every possible option including drawing the money from segregated fees and using university gifts while eliminating the original plan early, according to Landy Sanchez, committee member and UW-Madison graduate student.
Hong said she thinks Wiley's decision to accept the committee's proposal showed he agrees international students are essential to UW-Madison.
""I think [the new plan] is really making a statement that as a university we really are committed to diversity and to the presence of international students here,"" she said.
Until now, UW-Madison has relied on donations to pay the SEVIS fee. So far, UW-Madison has received approximately $12,000 in donations and has another $11,000 in commitments to fund SEVIS, with other possible donations pending.
However, such donations could not entirely cover SEVIS, nor could they be counted on as a lasting solution, according to Wiley.
Wiley said he expects the new plan will sustain SEVIS at UW-Madison.
""As far as I'm concerned, this is our permanent solution,"" he said.
