The UW-Madison Contract Advisory Board voted yesterday to withhold contract status from the Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group.
However, Chancellor John Wiley will make the final decision regarding the organization's status.
The Contract Advisory Board will inform Wiley of the events that took place at the meeting so he can make a decision about WISPIRG's contract status. If Wiley denies WISPIRG's contract, the organization can then appeal to the UW Board of Regents, who can ultimately overrule the Chancellor.
Student Services Finance Committee representatives Alex Gallagher and Kurt Gosselin pushed the board to consider four reasons why WISPIRG should be granted contract status. They targeted points that discussed the vital need for WISPIRG presence on campus and the unique opportunities it provides students.
Contract status for WISPIRG would allow them to sustain their paid staff.
Without our paid staff WISPIRG would not exist,"" WISPIRG member and UW-Madison junior Tony Uhl said.
According to Uhl, the paid staff provides a student voice in the Capitol.
""We have great expertise to help students pass important legislation. They teach an intern class where they teach students things they will never learn in a classroom. They really allow students to have tangible lifetime experiences,"" Uhl said.
WISPIRG President Jeff Rolling said he is frustrated with ASM's decision to reject WISPIRG's contract status.
""I think it is bogus '¦ There seems to be a negative attitude toward any group wanting contract status coming from the administration, so I was not really surprised that [the administrators on this committee] all voted together,"" Rolling said.
""Regardless of what the Chancellor does, we are hoping that ASM will stand up for the decision they initially made. We are hoping they will continue to defend our right to have those resources,"" WISPIRG Secretary Adam Porton said.
Wiley will receive the information from the meeting on May 5 and will make his decision in the following weeks.
CORRECTION: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that the Chancellor's Contract Advisory Committee voted unanimously to deny WISPIRG contract status. It also misquoted Jeff Rolling as saying, ""I think it is bogus '¦ There seems to be a negative attitude toward any group wanting contract status coming from the administration, so I was not really surprised that [the Contract Advisory Board] all voted together."" Rolling did not refer to the ""Contract Advisory Board.""
