UWM Union Renovation Sparks Debate from Chancellor and SA

UWM Chancellor Mark Mone denounced members of the Student Association with a four-page letter in response to the SA vote that condemned a raise in student fees to repair the Union, saying SA was given ample time to express their concerns.

“No Student Association representative ever appealed or objected to the Union Capital fee in 2015, 2016, 2017, or 2018,” Mone wrote in his letter that was sent to all Student Association senators. “The student objections raised …will not, however, necessarily result in a significant reduction in the Union Capital fee.”

SA members spent over three hours debating the actions of administration over a yearly, graduated raise in the Student Union Capital Fee over a two-year span at their Feb. 10 meeting. UWM administration raised this fee over the past two years without the student body’s consent, SA argued.

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Chancellor Mone violated a Wisconsin state statute that requires student representation with regards to majoring remodeling or major construction projects, according to SA legislation. Mone strongly disputed this contention. You can read his letter here:

“The assertions do a disservice to the student leaders and UWM employees who have worked so hard on behalf of UWM’s students,” Mone wrote regarding the SA vote.

In December 2017, 18,000 UWM students voted regarding the Union Project, but the “no” votes won the majority with almost 9,000 votes. As a result, the Union would not be rebuild or remodeled, but instead be repaired as needed.

Following the campus-wide student vote last fall, segregated fees would rise each semester in relation to the price of repairs needed for the Union. While currently the Union project fee stands at $75 per student, there was no end date set to the Student Union fee. Theoretically, the fee could keep increasing every year, according to SA legislation.

Senator Will Paltz first noticed the issue in late January and presented it to the Student Association. SA approves all fees, but the Student Union Capital Fee which pays for the Union repair was never presented to SA.

The Student Union Capital Project fee is a portion of the segregated fees that all enrolled students pay each semester. Segregated fees pay for on-campus services and now will pay for repairing the student union. The Student Union fee was created in 2016 at $13 per student but jumped to $75 per student this year.

Student Association President Alyssa Molinski called the problem “a miscommunication.” The union fee is different from the Union budget so both the increase in fees and the Union budget should’ve been presented to SA separately, she said. According to Molinski, the Chancellor and his committee weren’t aware of the separate process.

“To face a potential delay or withdrawal of the project based on concerns that the Student Association was not sufficiently consulted on or informed of the associated costs to students would be most unfortunate and possibly irreparable,” Mone wrote.

In their legislation, SA suggested UWM administration identify the needs of the Student Union in the “Made in Milwaukee, Shaping the World” fundraising campaign. The campaign will continue until June 2019, but has already raised “more than $200 million for its university-wide fundraising effort,” according to a September 2018 news release from UWM.

Molinski described the week as the most stressful week of her presidential term. Molinski was undecided and conflicted whether to align with the rest of the senators. The mixed vote is rare in the student senate, Molinski said.

Chancellor Mone responded with a four-page letter sent to all SA Senators three days after the vote. In his letter, Mone detailed the background of the Student Union Project as well as the concerns of UWM leadership following SA’s vote.

“I strongly urge you to rethink your objections to the Student Union Capital Project fees,” Mone wrote.

Eventually Molinski sided with the rest of the Senate and published her response in a letter on February 17.

“There is no documentation that suggests that the students of UWM were represented in the decision to raise the Capital Budget fee to $75/semester where it currently stands,” Molinski wrote.

The UW System rated UWM Student Union in failing physical condition and in poor functional condition.

The Student Union Project started a decade ago and has since developed “actively under discussion with students,” according to Mone’s letter. The project has evolved from a rebuild to a remodel over the years to keep costs low.

“As the leader of an institution with an access mission and a student body with 32% first-generation college students, I am acutely aware of the impact of any increase in the cost of attendance,” Mone wrote. “UWM does not take lightly any such increase, whether through tuition or fees.”

The Student Union was built in 1972 and hasn’t been significantly remodeled since the original construction. UWM’s Union is the only student union in the UW System that hasn’t been renovated or replaced, according to Mone’s letter.

The UW System told UWM that it would include the Student Union Project in the next budget, but only with high student participation as well as the impact of the project on student fees, according to Mone.

Facebook brought the attention to the rest of the student body who generally reacted negatively. “People don’t like feeling unaware,” said Molinski.

“No student will volunteer more money for a school that already charges a significant amount for a project they won’t immediately reap the benefits from. Why would we?” Sean Tyler Waiss wrote on Facebook.

Molinski called the funding process a “glaring issue.” Molinski isn’t worried about fixing the funding process, but is worried about the uncertainty in the meantime. “The process is just getting started.”

“I want people to know we care about the Union,” Molinski said. “We just want the funding process to be more transparent.”

It’s unclear how the SA condemnation vote will impact the rise in segregated fees and could have no affect on the rise in the Student Union fee, according to Mone’s letter. The Senate created the Panther Union Reinvestment which will focus on changing the funding process, reinstating the fee, and fundraising Union repairs.

Both parties expressed hope to work together to resolve the concerns of the Senate as well as met the needs of the Union.