You are on page 1of 7

ASM Student Council, 23rd Session

Legislation 23-0215-02
Title: Cognitive Dissonance
Sponsored by: Tyriek Mack, Omer Arain, Katherine Kerwin

1 Whereas, the mission of UW-Madison is to attract and serve students from diverse social,
2 economic and ethnic backgrounds and to be sensitive and responsive to those groups which have
3 been underserved by higher education.1
4
5 Whereas, the Division of Diversity, Equity, & Educational Achievements (DDEA) operative
6 goal are, increasing access for all qualified students, especially for underrepresented minorities
7 and women in the STEM areas; Eliminating the achievement gap between majority and
8 underrepresented students; Recruiting and retaining a more diverse faculty and staff; Preparing
9 all our students, staff and faculty to thrive personally and professionally in a world that is
10 diverse, global and interconnected2
11
12 Whereas, the current achievement gap between majority and underrepresented students has roots
13 that date back to enslavement3
14
15 Whereas, during enslavement Black people were legally barred from the most basic forms of
16 education including literacy4
17
18 Whereas, Post-Civil War and the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision, black people
19 have been trapped into segregated institutions that are underfunded3

20 Whereas, UW-Madison remains out of reach for a disproportionate amount of students of color
21 compared to non-minority students

1
http://www.wisc.edu/about/mission/
2
https://provost.wisc.edu/climate.htm
3
http://ftp.iza.org/dp6192.pdf)
4
https://policy.m4bl.org/reparations/
ASM Student Council, 23rd Session
Legislation 23-0215-02
Title: Cognitive Dissonance
Sponsored by: Tyriek Mack, Omer Arain, Katherine Kerwin

1 Whereas, financial aid is not sufficiently covering the basic needs of students attending public
2 universities and colleges

3 Whereas, a Wisconsin Hope Lab survey of students at community colleges in the nation showed
4 half of all students surveyed were struggling with food and housing insecurity, 20 percent didnt
5 have money to eat and 13 percent were homeless.5

6 Whereas, currently, the median family income of Wisconsin students is about 20% higher than
7 the state median. Progress towards reducing that inequity could occur through many methods,
8 including changes to our recruitment practices or admissions criteria, and/or enhancement of the
9 availability of need-based financial aid.6

10 Whereas, instead of increasing need-based aid, Chancellor Blank committed to increasing merit-
11 based aidan initiative that benefits more affluent families7

12 Whereas, the relative income of applicants from Wisconsin is 1.2 times higher than the average
13 Wisconsin family5

14 Whereas, the relative income of applicants from Minnesota applications are approximately 1.5
15 times higher than the average income of a Minnesota family5

16
17 Whereas, non Minnesota, out-of-state students have income averages between 1.8 to 2.5 times
18 more than the average US family5

5
http://wihopelab.com/publications/Wisconsin_hope_lab_hungry_to_learn.pdf
6
http://www.lafollette.wisc.edu/images/publications/workingpapers/wolfe2009-005.pdf
7
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/12/18/university-wisconsin-ups-its-merit-aid-
effort-better-compete-peers
ASM Student Council, 23rd Session
Legislation 23-0215-02
Title: Cognitive Dissonance
Sponsored by: Tyriek Mack, Omer Arain, Katherine Kerwin

1 Whereas, in-state applicants to Madison rarely come from the lowest 40 percent of the income
2 distribution in the state, and point out that the representation of these applicants has declined
3 over time.8
4 Whereas, the increasing importance ascribed to standardized measures of academic achievement
5 may have a chilling effect on low-income students looking to apply
6
7 Whereas, the geographic distribution of Wisconsin resident students at Madison should reflect
8 the geographic distribution of high school graduates in the state9
9
10 Whereas, graduates from high schools in Wisconsin towns and rural areas are currently
11 underrepresented among UW-Madisons incoming students, as are students from the city of
12 Milwaukee. 6
13
14 Whereas, Milwaukee is Wisconsins most populous city, and given its importance to the
15 economic vitality of the state, students from that city should be a substantial fraction of
16 Madisons enrollment6
17
18 Whereas, admitting and enrolling applicants who are ethnically, geographically, and
19 economically diverse is a focus of recruiting and outreach efforts.6
20
21 Whereas, as a public land-grant institution with a statewide mission, it is important that UW-
22 Madison be accessible to Wisconsin residents from all parts of the state.
23
24 Whereas, graduates from high schools in suburban areas over-apply to UW-Madison, meaning
25 that their representation among UW-Madison applicants is greater than their representation in the
26 high school graduating class.

8
http://www.supportuw.org/wp-content/uploads/witte-elite.pdf
9
http://apir.wisc.edu/admissions/Access_for_WI_Residents_Geography.pdf
ASM Student Council, 23rd Session
Legislation 23-0215-02
Title: Cognitive Dissonance
Sponsored by: Tyriek Mack, Omer Arain, Katherine Kerwin

1
2 Whereas, these students then enroll in proportion to their representation among admitted
3 applicants, leading to a class of new freshmen that is over-represented by high school graduates
4 from suburban high schools in Wisconsin as a consequence of their application behavior.
5
6 Whereas, conversely, in 3 counties (Milwaukee, Rock, Waukesha), admits are underrepresented
7 in UW-Madison admits compared to their representation in the UW-Madison applicants.
8
9 Whereas, graduates from city high schools in Wisconsin represent 25% of UW-Madison
10 applicants from Wisconsin and 22% of admits.9
11
12 Whereas, applicants from high schools in rural areas represent 21% of UW-Madison applicants
13 from Wisconsin and 23% of admits9
14
15 Whereas, students from towns and rural areas are overrepresented in admission relative to their
16 amount of applications at the expense of applicants from cities.
17
18 Whereas, the largest concentration of ethnic diversity in Wisconsin is found in cities
19
20 Whereas, the primary difficulty in enrolling more minority students comes from the very small
21 numbers of well-prepared graduates10
22
23 Whereas, metrics used to determine well-prepared high school students used an average
24 standardized test score that was not reflective of the entire state, as the average score is now 20.5,
25 down from 22.2 after the all high school students took the test 11
26

10
http://apir.wisc.edu/admissions/2011_Pipeline_Update.pdf
11
http://www.maciverinstitute.com/2016/08/wisconsin-act-scores/)
ASM Student Council, 23rd Session
Legislation 23-0215-02
Title: Cognitive Dissonance
Sponsored by: Tyriek Mack, Omer Arain, Katherine Kerwin

1 Whereas, the reliance on standardized test scores in admissions process plays an important role
2 in the chances of application and admission for Wisconsins disadvantaged residents, particularly
3 those attending Milwaukee Public Schools.
4
5 Whereas, since the admissions criteria clearly state that standardized test scores are required for
6 admission, it is very likely that this criterion affects the applicant pool
7
8 Whereas, a sizable body of research indicates that the use of standardized test scores as
9 admissions criteria restricts the college opportunities for needy students, helping higher
10 education perpetuate inequality
11
12 Whereas, at UW-Madison, people of color are overwhelmingly represented in food service,
13 grounds keeping, custodial roles and fairly low-paid secretarial roles
14
15 Whereas, at UW Madison people of color are tragically underrepresented among tenured faculty
16 members, deans, provosts and presidents
17
18 Whereas, this sends a message to black and Latino students students of color that they arent
19 really valued.
20
21 Whereas, to their white counterparts, their expectation is that people of color work at the lowest
22 levels of the organizations they lead.
23
24 Whereas, standardized tests perpetuate and uphold white supremacy
25
26 Whereas, it is clear from research that students and families do not understand what this means,
27 and that the use of test scores in admissions is a defining attribute of the institution and
28 prominent piece of our image
29
ASM Student Council, 23rd Session
Legislation 23-0215-02
Title: Cognitive Dissonance
Sponsored by: Tyriek Mack, Omer Arain, Katherine Kerwin

1 Whereas, the arms race for merit aid only further excludes low-income and minority students
2 from attending UW-Madison
3
4 Whereas, attempts to address systemic, structural barriers for minority access to higher education
5 is criticized as undermining merit-based admission requirements
6
7
8 The Associated Students of Madison acting in Student Council do enact as follows:
9
10 We demand the creation of a special task force by March 10th to assess the utility and
11 feasibility of (a) test-optional admissions and (b) geographically-weighted admissions.
12 Admissions criteria at UW-Madison are subject to policies put forth by the Board of
13 Regents, and thus this task force should work with both internal and external stakeholders
14 to develop its assessment.
15
16 We demand that following the creation of that report, if the task force recommends
17 changes to admissions criteria, we call on the University to ensure that the Office of
18 Admissions have resources that are sufficient in order to accomplish such changes to
19 policy, as this would be critical to ensuring success.
20
21 We demand, an increase in generic unrestricted need-based financial aid yearly that will
22 amount to 10 percent of total giving.
23
24 We demand, that if the UW Foundation does not reach the 10 percent goal, then
25 foundation could establish that 2 percent of all gifts be allocated to unrestricted generic
26 need-based financial aid.
27
ASM Student Council, 23rd Session
Legislation 23-0215-02
Title: Cognitive Dissonance
Sponsored by: Tyriek Mack, Omer Arain, Katherine Kerwin

1 We demand Reparations for the Systemic Denial of Access to High Quality Educational
2 Opportunities In the Form of Full and Free Access for All Black People (Including
3 Undocumented, Currently, and Formerly Incarcerated People) to UW-Madison12

4
5
6
7

12
https://policy.m4bl.org/reparations/

You might also like