United Council leadership provides you with written reports on our progress below. In these reports, officers (biweekly) and board members (monthly) keep you updated on our activities. Feel free to contact us if you have questions regarding our reports.

Download PDF –> February 2012 Convention Reports

Officers

President Geoff Murray (UW-Stevens Point)
April 27, 2013 | View Previous Reports
So I am going to actually keep this really short, I know I say that every time I write a report but this time I mean it. Since the last convention, I have been doing much the same activities that I have all year. This time I have largely been focusing on the state biennial budget campaign, but I have managed to do a few other things as well.
I visited a number of campuses in the last two months, including my first ever visits to UW-Platteville and UW-Whitewater. I have now visited every campus in the UW System over the last two years, a feat I am very proud of. I also travelled to Washington DC for USSA’s LegCon and SSA Summit. Other than that I attended every Joint Committee on Finance budget hearing around the state and testified at them on UW funding, UW land sale, and financial aid. The last week has been focusing on the new developments in the budget process with the Legislative Fiscal Bureau report and the massive reaction to the information contained therein.
Congrats to the students of UW-Platteville on remaining members of United Council, and thank you to all the students and staff that made sure an informed decision was made by the students there. I look forward to supporting the students of UW-Rock County and UW-Fox Valley in their efforts to run referenda next year.
Though this is the last official convention, there remains much work to do before the current group of UC leadership are finished. We need your continued engagement and support to ensure the best possible outcomes for the budget and our other campaigns.
If you would like more details on what I have been up to, all of my biweekly reports are available on the unitedcouncil.net website.

Geoff Murray
President
United Council of UW Students
pres@unitedcouncil.net

Vice President Beth Huang (UW-Madison)
April 27, 2013 | View Previous Reports

Dear membership, the Board of Directors, staff, and coalition partners,

Welcome to United Council’s final convention of the year! Like many of you, I am excited to participate in the election of the students who will lead next year’s United Council and the selection of the campaigns that will advance our organization.

As the chair of the Board of Directors, I wanted to notify you of some of the items coming to the decision-making body of United Council. At Saturday evening’s meeting, we will be taking the first public preview of the internal operating budget that Finance Committee has been drafting. Related to our budgetary processes, the Board will make decisions regarding the general body participation in determining United States Student Association membership. For external advocacy, the Board will discuss the Student Loan Fairness Act (HR 1330), a federal bill that seeks to convert private student loans to public student loans. If you have any opinions about the agenda items coming before the Board, please voice them in open forum at 5:30pm.

In preparation for this weekend’s convention, first I have been preparing to chair the issue choosing plenary that will occur on Sunday. I have been studying up on Roberts Rules of Order to ensure a smooth general assembly. Second, I have helped several active members with campaign proposals over the past few weeks. I wholeheartedly believe that the plenary will have the opportunity this weekend to debate on thoughtful proposals for strategic campaigns. Third, I have worked with Board and staff members to clearly define roles of Board members and staff members in the elections proceedings. Finally, I have discussed the agenda and programming for this weekend’s convention with Katie Baeten, the Development and Events Director.

Since the last convention, I have participated in several external affairs activities. First, I attend United States Student Association Legislative Conference and Statewide/Systemwide Student Association Summit in Washington, D.C. At this event, I learned at and presented workshops, met and reconnected with other statewide student association leaders, and lobbied Representative Jim Sensenbrenner’s office on student loan debt. Both Vice President Sophia Zaman and National Field Associate Anthony Delarosa will be at this convention, and I strongly encourage you to connect with them. Second, I collaborated with leaders in the Associated Students of Madison and Board members attending UW-Madison to recruit for student testimony at the Joint Finance Committee public hearings. We enjoyed positive reception from legislators from both parties. Also, I attended the public hearing in Baldwin. Finally, I worked on field tactics in the UW-Platteville referenda and met the wonderful campus volunteers and student organizers. These external affairs activities reaffirmed that without campus student activists, United Council cannot thrive and win concrete victories that directly improve students’ lives.

As for campus organizing, I worked with Damon Terrell, the UW-Madison campus organizer, to recruit senior student leaders to a meeting about leadership development and would encourage exiting student leaders on all campuses to systematically assess the strengths and areas of growth of upcoming leaders. In addition, I worked with peers at UW-Madison as well as members of the Student Labor Action Project on organizing a student loan debt week of action this past week. For this upcoming week, I will help organize a listening session on the campus diversity plan currently being drafted at UW-Madison and will mobilize students to a rally to support the Palermo’s Workers Union strike.

On a personal note, I have accepted an organizing position with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees as my first full-time job after graduation this May! If you have any questions, comments, or ideas, please reach out to me at this convention, call me at (414) 378-5889, or email me at vp@unitedcouncil.net. Good luck to all of you who are running for leadership positions or proposing campaigns this weekend!

All the best,
Beth Huang
Vice President
United Council of UW Students
vp@unitedcouncil.net

Secretary John Kronenwetter (UW-Superior)
April 27, 2013 | View Previous Reports

I have worked with the Regional Field Organizer Rachel Fleming to organize a delegation of students to attend the JFC Hearing in Baldwin, Wisconsin on April 18. During this hearing we had an opportunity to advocate for UW System funding and tell legislators our personal stories about why education matters to us.

I have been working on a transition plan for the upcoming few months to hand over the responsibilities of the position to the incoming secretary. I want to ensure a smooth transition of governing documents and the operations of the UC governance website.

I met with Finance Committee Chair Allie Gardner and Executive Director Courtney Morse to discuss some ideas for the upcoming budget. We are looking into the possibility of having paid student leaders to work on United Council campaign. The details of the budget are still being worked out in the Finance Committee and will be presented to the Board of Directors in the coming months.

Thank you,
John Kronenwetter
United Council Secretary

ALLIE GARDNER
RESEARCH CAUCUS
UW-Madison
Following our advocacy efforts with USSA during LegCon, a group of UW-Madison students has organized a week of awareness around student debt and the Student Loan Fairness Act, for which I and other Board members have proposed a resolution to endorse the bill. I have reached out to other Board members to co-author the resolution, and have been in touch with student leaders from UW Milwaukee, and other campuses, about the week of awareness. I have also been meeting with UW Madison students who are proposing a student debt campaign during April Convention.
We have organized two actions targeting Chancellor Ward in order to get him to terminate the University’s contract with Madison. We are coordinating our largest action of the year for this coming Monday, and are reaching out to students at other schools to attend, including UW – Milwaukee.
I have also worked with VP Huang and other research caucus members to recruit students to April Convention, and have met with multiple students about campaigns they are interested in proposing.
The Finance Committee will introduce the Final Draft Budget for FY13-14 during the April Convention. Through multiple meetings with Finance Committee members, the Finance Director and Executive Director, we will have the draft and narrative prepared this weekend.
Additionally, the committee chose to support an event at UW-Madison regarding the State of the Student Movement, and approved all travel requests for the April Convention. I will continue to meet weekly with the Finance Director, and follow up with each Board member, and other interested students, to continue to discuss and edit the budget.

SELMA ALY
RESEARCH CAUCUS
UW-Madison
Dear Membership,
Welcome to the April Convention! Another year has almost past, thus another election is in our midst. I wish the best of luck to all the folks running for a position.
This month has been focused on the “State of the Student Movement” event that I helped Maxwell John Love and Finance Chair Allie Gardner organize. We brought Max Berger, Molly Shack, Nelini Stamp and Felipe Sousa-Rodriguez to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. These four amazing activists organize around a plethora of different issues. It was an amazing experience and if you would like to get in touch with one of them for a certain question, I would be happy to introduce you.
I have also been working with our Financial Director, Leigh Fredrickson, Executive Director, Courtney Morse, and Finance Committee Chair Allie Gardner on certain parts of the budget. I have been learning a lot of UC’s budget and getting training on how a budget is actually written.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend! If you have any questions, please feel free to approach me!
Cheers,
Selma Aly

BRANDON METHU
RESEARCH CAUCUS
UW-Milwaukee
No report submitted.

MATT ROSNER
COMPREHENSIVES CAUCUS
UW-Stevens Point
March Highlights
Went to LegCon and helped campuses when I was there.
Did my normal Leg Affairs meetings.
Had my normal GRD check ins with Dylan Jambrek to get updates about our legislative activities.
Planning to meet with Nneka and Ben regarding Building Unity very soon in Stevens Point and to work on my workshop for Building Unity.. (Will be working with Lamonte to present this workshop)
Did some outreach and recruitment for the April convention.

April Highlights
Went to the Dells JFC hearing and produced awesomeness with UW Madison students.
Facilitated one Leg Affairs meeting.
Had my normal GRD check ins with Dylan Jambrek to get updates about our legislative activities.
Some stuff for the April Convention.
Did my duties as a steering committee member.

JOE STENSLAND
COMPREHENSIVES CAUCUS
UW-Superior
U.W.-Superior S.G.A. Elections:
On April 15th and 16th, U.W.-Superior held their elections for the 2013-2014 academic year(s). Current seated Senators in the 2012-2013 academic year(s) Bryce Harp, Mack Peters, and Tom Radke were re-elected. Currently the U.W.-Superior S.G.A. Presidency and Vice Presidency have not been finalized at this time. The final results are hoped to be known by April 30th due to ongoing events and circumstances.

U.C. BoD and Officer Elections:
I noticed there are many people running for officer positions in the elections to be held at the convention. I want to wish everyone good luck in the election and please vote for the person(s) you think will best represent your voice, ideas, and concerns for the direction of United Council as our State Student Association. As for my-self, I will be running for re-election as a Comprehensive Board member. I hope to speak to many constituents and answer questions during the election. Good luck to everyone.

WI State Budget Joint Finance Committee Meeting:
As part of our on-going effort across the state of Wisconsin, many Joint Finance Committee meetings have been taking place. U.W.-Superior sent a representation of two people (due to weather and previous obligations) to represent the views of U.W.-Superior’s students. I’m pleased to have been part of the initial efforts by Rachael Fleming, Kara Schmidt, and John Kronenwetter to make that event possible. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the event due to my current role as Executive Director for U.W.-Superior’s S.G.A. as I was administrating and supervising the elections. Thank you very much for those who drove down to the convention to represent our campus.

Student Loans
I’m pleased to announce that I have joined up with fellows BoD member Allie Gardner in co-sponsoring a resolution to support future efforts to improve student loan protections and fairness for future generations of students to come. A copy of this resolution will be available at the BoD meeting to be held at the April Elections and Issue Choosing Convention at U.W. – Waukesha on the 27th. In addition, I’m also proud to be a part of signing on for a potential issue of carrying our continued efforts forward about student loans as a potential issue for our campaign platform as a State Student Association for the 2013-2014 academic year(s). For not this is just a proposal. Thank you Allie Gardner for all of you work on this and to Beth Huang for bringing it to my attention.

SAMANTHA ROTTSCHEIT
COMPREHENSIVES CAUCUS
UW-LaCrosse
This month I switched from the finance committee to the legislative affairs committee (though that has yet to be finalized at the next board meeting). I tried recruiting people for both the JFCs and the convention at the end of the month, which I’ve very excited to attend as it’s in my hometown. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the JFCs due to transportation issues and scholastic obligations, but I did try to see if I could squeeze them in. I have been keeping in contact with UWL’s student body president Nick Bezier about some recent concerns he’s had, as well as helping coordinate his attendance (and that of the delegation he’s leading) at the convention at the end of the month. I have also spent a lot of time working with fellow caucus members Matt Rosner and John Kronenwetter for our campaign. I am running for secretary.

Goals and Accomplishments
· Recruited for the convention
· Kept in touch with the president about his concerns and helping address them
· Helped get members of our SGA to come to the convention
· Worked with Matt and John for our campaign, including but not limited to outreach (mostly through social media) and mock Q&As
· Began working a little with legislative affairs while wrapping up my time on the finance committee

CHRIS HOOD
COMPREHENSIVES CAUCUS
UW-Parkside
Greetings to all my fellow United Council student members, Board Members, and staff. I hope that everyone is doing well and wish everyone the best of luck on their upcoming final exams and papers. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate all those members who are graduating this year. I know you will do great things and keep the pride of UW system in your hearts. I regret that I can’t be there for the April convention but my sister is getting married and I need to be there to celebrate with her and my family. My hopes are that everyone has put a lot of thought into the issues they would like to see chosen and worked on during the upcoming academic year. I would also like to offer an early congratulations to those of you elected as next year’s board members and officers. I know that you will carry on our visions as well as improve the overall quality of the organization. As I look back on the past year as a board member I have experienced several feelings. First I am proud of the work that was done regarding voter registration and GOTV as well as all the great work that we accomplished during lobby day. Second, I do feel that we could have done more to promote unity within the UW system. I feel that there have been a lot of personal attacks on people this year that did not need to be made and did not aide in the betterment of the organization. I hope that this will improve during the next year. I am proud of my experience as a board member and will continue to learn and use the skills that I have obtained during the past year. I hope that I have made at least a bit of an impact in your lives as well as the quality of United Council and the UW system. I wish everyone the best of luck next year in school or whatever endeavors you pursue. I hope to see you all at Building Unity and next year as well. I would like to thank you all for being my friends and colleagues and hope to continue helping next year in whatever capacity I can. Remember it only takes a small group of people with a common goal to start a revolution. On Wisconsin and forward into the future.
Sincerely,
Christopher Hood

IAN REESE
COLLEGES CAUCUS
UW-Marathon County
I’m approaching the conclusion of two years of service on the Board of Directors of United Council. During this time, I’ve learned a lot from officers, my fellow board members, and the students of the UW-System. I count these two years as some of the most rewarding, challenging, and amazing years of my life.

I believe in the students of the UW-System. I believe in our ability to work together to fight for the rights of students across the state. I believe in our ability to empower every student to stand up and claim the rights that they are entitled to. I believe that, by uniting around the issues that affect all students, we can make everyone’s educational experience better and more inclusive.

As we continue forward in our educational experience, I encourage all students to not allow partisan differences and personal vendettas to hinder the progress of the student movement across the state. This work that we are doing is bigger than any and all of us. It is incumbent that we, as student leaders, put aside our personal difference, and instead unite to fight for the students that we represent. If we work together, we can accomplish great things next year.

Forward for Students,
Ian. D. Reese

LAMONTE MOORE
COLLEGES CAUCUS
UW-Fond du Lac
Hello everyone the month of April has been a very busy and productive month leading into April Convention this weekend. Some things that I have been occupied with far as on campus activities and work was putting together with the Multi-Cultural Club two events which were the Womyn’s Awareness and International Foods events; which were both very successful in getting people aware, educated, and informed on different cultures and what cultural significance they bring to the table as well as getting folks aware on the issues surrounding Womyn in society; and how imperative it is to be educated about those particular issues but also embracing them, and being willing to actively work to suppress those issues as well. Other things on campus have been wrapping up elections here on campus for SGA, and also manning tables for recruitment for April Convention and Building Unity this summer.

Other events that I have taken part of this month have been attending the Joint Finance Committee Hearing in Greendale which was a great experience to let our voices be heard as students on things we feel are important pertaining to our education and lives. I also attended the Leadership Summit in Steven’s Point which was led by some of our staff and fellow UC members which was a great opportunity and learning experience to be in attendance for.
Hope everyone is doing well, and excited to see you all!!!

Lamonte M.

JESSICA FRAME
UW COLLEGES CAUCUS
UW-Fond du Lac
No report submitted.