ASM passes legislation to strengthen shared governance, additional funding for co-advocate program The Badger Herald

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The Madison Associate Student Council passed legislation on the restoration of shared governance as well as the internal budget amendment at their meeting on Wednesday evening.

ASM passed a law calling on the legislature to change the wording of the state of Wisconsin’s statute regarding shared governance, which aims to provide a legal basis for the participation of academic staff, faculty and students in decision-making processes. in the schools of the University of Wisconsin system.

Student leaders said changes to the wording of the law in 2015 weakened their powers within the system of shared governance. Instead of students being “active participants in immediate governance and policy making,” students “now have primary responsibility for formulating and reviewing policies regarding life, services and interests. of students’ under the law, according to the legislation.

The legislation was sponsored by representatives MGR Govindarajan, Reez Bailey, Emma Cline and Tyler Katzenberger.

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The ASM was not supposed to vote on the legislation until a later date, but decided to vote on the legislation at Wednesday night’s meeting due to overwhelming support for passing the legislation. Bailey offered to vote for the bill during the meeting.

Many members, including Katzenberger, who is the director of the press office, expressed their views on why the legislation should be passed at the meeting.

“Personally, I have the impression that there is a momentum behind this bill that there has not necessarily been for a few years, and I think it is the point to act”, a Katzenberger said. “I think we have at least one better shot than in the past.”

The vote resulted in 21 ASM members in favor of passing the legislation with a single no in favor.

ASM President Adrian Lampron then presented the Modification of the internal budget of the ASM in which the funding of an ASM-based program for a response to mental health crises was heavily debated.

The Budget modification plans to have University Health Services, which is funded in part by a separate fee through ASM, to pilot a crisis response program. The program would send mental health professionals to respond with the University of Wisconsin Police Department to mental health-related calls.

ASM requested $ 3,000 in funds to pay for the rental of a car for a co-responder pilot or mental health professional and parking space for the vehicle, according to the budget request.

ASM plans to take these funds from ASM’s internal budget for general travel due to the Association of Big Ten Students conference to be held in Madison this year, prompting ASM not to need that much travel funds.

SSFC Representative Erin Tritz raised concerns about the change during the meeting as she believed the change would not solve the bigger issue.

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“I think it’s a bullet hole that we put a bandage on. We should be putting more money into it, ”Tritz said. “It’s not that this $ 3,000 shouldn’t go, but I think it needs to be followed by more legislation on top of that rather than just $ 3,000.”

ASM member Stu Levitan argued that Tritz’s reasoning was why this change was only a pilot program.

“[The program] is an immediate and temporary way to deal with the existing crisis, ”Levitan said. “To that end, it is in line with our intention for a limited time. This is exactly what the pilot program is supposed to do.

After the debate period, council adopted the budget amendment. The vote resulted in 16 members in favor of the legislation, with none in favor of the legislation.

The board also reviewed the reports of standing committees and councils, reports of chairs and various new member appointments to ASM. All of the appointees have been approved.

The ASM will hold its next meeting at 6:00 p.m. on October 13 at the Student Activity Center.

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