Members of the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group delivered a stack of petitions to University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor David Ward’s office Tuesday, requesting Ward review his decision not to sign contracts to fully fund the organization on campus.
Although the Student Services Finance Committee recommended granting funding to WISPIRG, Ward refused to sign contracts that would allow the use of student segregated fees to fund the group.
Ward said Thursday he denied the group segregated fee funding due to the organization’s use of non-university staff positions, which according to a UW System policy, can only be funded through the Campus Services Fund.
WISPIRG members delivered 4,600 petitions, representing 10 percent of campus, “to call on Chancellor Ward to honor student rights to allocate seg fees,” said WISPIRG Chair Emily Ten-Eyck.
“WISPIRG provides an extremely valuable service to this campus,” Ten-Eyck said. “And this service is consistent with the Wisconsin Idea in providing opportunities for students to engage outside of the classroom and learn valuable skills.”
