We just want better communication between SA and the committees so we can figure out what each school needs.

After a series of meetings with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Association (SA) officials, the ability to delegate differential tuition will likely remain in the hands of Black and Gold Committees.

Differential tuition is paid by the credit in certain schools at UWM and is used for student services specific to each school and its individual needs. The amount of money distributed per credit differs from school to school.

The schools of Business, Nursing, Arts, Engineering and Architecture/Urban Planning use differential tuition.

I feel like when students graduate, they just get a piece of paper. With differential tuition we are able to give students a lot more, said Jennifer Globig, president of the School of Business Black and Gold Committee.

Much of that tuition money is tied up in fixed costs like paying faculty and additional teaching assistants. The rest of it is used to pay for additional student services and to keep pace with rival programs. Ultimately, it is up to each school to decide what will best serve its students.

Another issue dealt with in the meetings included appointing Black and Gold Committee members. Some schools have current members interview and appoint new members, while the SA wants to standardize the process by handling it themselves.

Currently, each school determines its appointment process independently.

The Black and Gold Committee Appointment Violation Act was presented at the April 1 Senate meeting to address how members are appointed.

During Senate discussion, SA President Samantha Prahl voiced concern over what she and others saw as potential administrative influence in committee appointments.

Faculty is placing students on committees, and we need to reverse this as soon as possible so that there is student representation, said Prahl at the meeting.

Black and Gold Committee members dispute any such administrative control and maintain that they are free to run themselves.

We were created to run ourselves and we remain autonomous, said David Fitzpatrick, vice president of the School of Business Black and Gold Committee.

The SA believes that standardizing the application process would be the most democratic way to appoint new members and efficiently spend that differential tuition, but the topic is still under debate.

It is hard to standardize the process because each school has different needs, said Globig.

However, the SA believes that they can work together with the committees to find a democratic solution.

We just want better communication between SA and the committees so we can figure out what each school needs, said SA Shared Governance Director Brandon Decker.

The next meeting is scheduled for April 18 and should help to clarify the appointment issues.

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