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Where the money goes
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February 22, 2009 1:19 PM by Jess
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By Rose Davis
of the Frontpage Milwaukee reporting staff
Feb. 22, 2009
Nearly $800 in segregated fees is taken out of the tuition UW-Milwaukee students pay every semester to support student organizations at the university, just $90 short of the amount of money wasted by the UWM Student Association in February.
There are dozens of groups that receive segregated fees, in the form of allocable or non-allocable funds.
Non-allocable segregated fees support long-term commitments for fixed financial obligations and ongoing operating costs and services for things like Norris Health Center, the Klotsche Center and the student union.
Allocable segregated fees provide support for campus student activities and services. These fees support many organizations on campus, including athletics, the Student Association (SA) and the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC).
According to documents provided by Tom McGinnity, current director of the Student Activities Office, SAC receives $9.50 in segregated fees each semester from full-time students. They allocate that money, $470,000 for the current school year, to all of the other student organizations at UWM. Emily Grotz plays a leading role in SAC as the chair of the seven-member student committee that allocates money based on grant requests.
Student organizations have to fill out a grant request form in order for SAC to allocate them money. This form breaks down exactly how much money they need for specific things such as travel, printing, office supplies and events. Student organizations must fill these forms out accurately or risk being rejected by SAC and not receiving funding for that year.
SAC’s rules are very specific as to what money can be spent on. For example, Grotz said that sports teams can receive money for travel, because they can’t compete without being able to travel. However, they don’t give money for buying jerseys, because they are often expensive and don’t benefit the whole university. Grotz said that SAC bases their funding on how beneficial what they’re funding would be for the entire university and the number of students it would benefit.
Every year, the executive and legislative branches of SA get around $136,000 from segregated fees for their total budget. Tyler Draheim, SA president, said the president of SA proposes a budget for the year based on this funding to the student senate, which then approves or changes it. Money is budgeted for specific things including salaries and travel. In 2007-08, SA was granted an $11,100 travel budget, which was used to fund the trip to the February conference.
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