Some Republican lawmakers say UW-Madison and Gov. Jim Doyle acted inappropriately when they e-mailed 33 students waiting for financial aid to participate in a press conference Tuesday.
The notified students, who are typically low-income, are awaiting Wisconsin Higher Education Grants they need to pay tuition this semester. Since they have been waitlisted, funds can only be awarded after the state budget is finalized.
The e-mail asked students if they wanted to appear with the governor, who is asking for the prompt passage of a budget that funds higher education at the levels the UW System has asked for.
UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas said no student's privacy was violated and only the appropriate Student Financial Services officials knew the names of the students. The Federal law concerning student information, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, was followed, according to Lucas.
We take student privacy very seriously,"" he said.
Lucas said the students were notified so they could speak out about the effect of the budget stalemate on their personal financial aid situation.
The e-mail was also worded so that students understood participation in the press conference was voluntary and would have no impact on any financial aid possibly awarded later, according to Lucas.
Mike Mikalsen, spokesperson for state Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, said the e-mail was taking advantage of the students' situations for the university's benefit and was ""a sad statement on the governor's ethics.""
""The governor is looking to use these students as a backdrop, as political pawns at a press conference,"" Mikalsen said.
Nass, who is chair of the state Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities, will formally ask the university Monday where the request to have the students appear originated - the governor's office or the university, according to Mikalsen.
Mikalsen said neither the university nor the governor's office have yet to claim responsibility for the initial request. He said the students' names and e-mails came from confidential information the university collects.
The practice of allowing outside groups to use students at press conferences may set a inappropriate precedent, Mikalsen said.
""Should Republicans be able to call down to UW-Madison and say we want to have 20 students who received WHEG grants?"" Mikalsen said.
Lucas said the students' participation was appropriate, as university officials like UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley and others have advocated for financial aid previously during the still ongoing budget talks.
The press conference, scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at Memorial Union, is still going to occur, according to Lucas.
