Opinion ID: 756711
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Mandatory Student Fee Policy

Text: 5 Students enrolled full-time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison must pay a mandatory student activity fee; it's mandatory because students who refuse to pay cannot receive their grades or graduate. During the 1995-96 academic year (the academic year during which the plaintiffs filed suit) the Regents assessed a mandatory student fee of $165.75 each semester. 6 Section 36.09 of the Wisconsin Code gives both the Regents and the students control over the funds generated by the mandatory student fee. The extent of control depends on the classification given the student fees: The Regents classify a portion of the student fees as nonallocable and a portion as allocable. Although the students (through student government representatives) review and make recommendations regarding the use of nonallocable fees, the Regents control the distribution of these fees. (The nonallocable fees cover expenses such as debt service, fixed operating costs of auxiliary operations, student health services, and the first and second year of the Recreational Sports budget.) On the other hand, the Associated Students of Madison (ASM) (the official representative of the student body) has complete authority over most of the allocable funding. Because the plaintiffs challenge only the funding from the allocable portion of student fees, we focus on those expenditures. 7 The distribution network for allocable student fees is rather complicated. We will attempt to draw the money trail to help explain the source of the complaint. As just noted, the ASM has authority over the allocable portion of student fees. Among other things, these fees fund the General Student Service Fund (GSSF) and the Associated Students of Madison budget. In turn, both the GSSF and the ASM distribute the mandatory student fees to other private organizations, although the distribution process differs. The GSSF is distributed to private organizations by a committee of the ASM called the Student Services Finance Committee (SSFC). 2 Registered student organizations, University departments, and community-based service organizations qualify for funding from the GSSF. To obtain money from the GSSF, the organization must apply to the SSFC. After reviewing the application, the SSFC determines whether to grant or deny the request for money, and if granted the SSFC also determines the amount of funding the private organization will receive. During the 1995-96 school year, the SSFC distributed about $974,200 in student fees to private organizations. 8 The ASM budget also funds private organizations, although only Registered Student Organizations qualify for funding from the ASM budget. To qualify as a Registered Student Organization, among other things, a group must be a formalized not-for-profit group, composed mainly, but not necessarily exclusively, of students, and controlled and directed by students. A Registered Student Organization may obtain money from the ASM budget in the form of a grant to support its operations, related travel, or to sponsor an event. During the 1995-96 school year, the ASM budget distributed $109,277 in student fees to private organizations. 9 In addition to obtaining money from the GSSF and the ASM budget, a Registered Student Organization may seek funding through a student referendum. With a student referendum, students vote at large on whether or not to approve an assessment for the student group. The Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG) obtained $49,500 in student fees during the 1995-96 academic year as the result of a student referendum. 10 After the ASM and the SSFC (or the students by referendum) have made their funding decisions, these decisions are sent to the Chancellor and the Board of Regents for their review and approval; while the ASM has complete authority over most of the allocable funding, the Regents have final authority to approve or disapprove the allocations of funds by the student government under section 36.09(5) of the Wisconsin Code.