University of Wisconsin KnowledgeBase : Student Council Meeting: Nov. 14

Lauren Hasselbacher, the Title IX coordinator at UW-Madison, spoke to student council about the UW-Madison Policy on Consensual Relationships. The policy was then endorsed by the body, and it had already been endorsed by other shared governance groups on campus.

Legislation titled “Ratification of the Constitution of the UW System Representatives” was brought to student council after ASM leaders attended the UW System Representatives meeting this past weekend. Most of the changes to the constitution were in regard to quorum and voting procedures, as a result of the mergers that took place in the UW System. The body voted to suspend the rules to debate and vote on the legislation tonight. The Constitution of the UW System Representatives was ratified by student council with a unanimous vote.

Last meeting, Rep. Ruben Moreno proposed legislation titled “Resolution on Mandatory Segregated Fees for Graduate Assistants.” The legislation was centered around the burden of graduate assistants having to pay for segregated fees when they serve as workers to the university. The rules were not suspended to allow for debate and a vote.

Prior to this meeting, Rep. Moreno worked with members of ASM and the TAA to create an amended version of the legislation which was substituted for the original version. Legislative Affairs Chair Laura Downer introduced the amended version, referencing the clarification of who graduate assistants are, citations to facts, and to clarify terminology, such as “university” and “administration of UW-Madison.” The amendment to the legislation passed.

Chair of the TAA Stewards Council, Rob Timberlake, was also motioned to sit on Council to be involved in the conversation around the amended legislation. The resolution was passed by student council, to join the Teaching Assistants’ Association in their call for the University to fully cover mandatory fees for all graduate workers at UW–Madison,” per the legislation.

The ASM internal budget for fiscal year 2020, which was amended by the ASM Student Service Finance Committee, was brought back to student council for final approval with two changes. SSFC had reduced the ASM recruitment drive from $1,500 to $1,000 and reduced the ASM Grant Allocation Committee members from $14,259 to $0.

GAC Chair Rebecca Graven proposed an amendment for the GAC Committee members to be paid, moving the number back to $14,259. After debate on whether or not the members should be paid, the amendment passed with a vote of 10-4-3.

The ASM internal budget for fiscal year 2020 passed with a vote of 15-1-0.