Requires biennial referendum of student body at public universities and colleges to determine whether student activity fees are voluntary or mandatory

Summary of provisions

Section one adds a new subdivision 20 to section 355 of the education law to: require that every college or university in the SUNY system post conspicuously on a publicly accessible website notice describing the purpose of the fee and the requirements set forth in this section; require a referendum at least every two years to determine whether the student activity fee shall be voluntary or mandatory; prohibit the use of a referendum for the determination of funding for any particular organization; provide that any student group that is officially recognized by the student government is eligible to receive funding; require that the procedure for distributing funds shall be viewpoint neutral; and provide for an appeals process for registered student organizations complaining of viewpoint discrimination in the funding process at all colleges and universities operated by SUNY.

§ 2 adds a new subdivision 4 to section 6215 of the education law to apply the procedures set forth in section one of the bill to CUNY campuses.

§ 3 adds a new subdivision 1-a to section 6304 of the education law to apply the procedures set forth in section one of the bill to community colleges.

§ 4 provides for the effective date.

Justification

The purpose of a student activity fee program at public colleges and universities is to enhance students' educational experience by promoting extracurricular activities, stimulating advocacy and debate on diverse points of view, enabling participation in campus administrative activity, and providing opportunities to develop social skills. However, because such a diverse group of student organizations are eligible to receive funding from the student activity fee, students often find themselves in the position of having to financially support organizations who engage in political and ideological expression that is offensive to their personal beliefs. A group of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison sued the University charging that the student fee program violated their First Amendment rights by compelling them to

support speech that they found objectionable. In their suit, the students asked that the University be required to grant them the choice to not fund objectionable groups.

This case was heard in 1999 by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth et at. (No. 98-1189). In its decision, which was rendered in March 2000, the Court ruled that the First Amendment permits a public university to charge its students an activity fee used to fund a program to facilitate extracurricular student speech, provided that the disbursement of funds is done in a fair and neutral manner without regard to the viewpoints of the organization requesting funding. This requirement for viewpoint neutrality in funding decisions, the Court found, is necessary to protect the First Amendment interests of students. The Court held that "Viewpoint neutrality is the justification for requiring the student to pay the fee in the first instance and for ensuring the Integrity of the program's operation once the funds have been collected."

Additionally, the University of Wisconsin's student activity fee program provided, in some instances, for a student referendum to decide which student groups would receive funding. A similar system is in place at public colleges and universities in New York. On this point, the Court held that "The whole theory of viewpoint neutrality is that minority views are treated with the same respect as are majority views. Access to a public forum, for instance, does not depend on majoritarian consent. That principle is binding here." Finding this referendum provision to be potentially unconstitutional, the Supreme Court struck down this part of the University of Wisconsin's fee program and remanded the case back to the District Court for further proceedings on this issue. On remand, the District Court did in fact find this provision to be unconstitutional, and the University of Wisconsin has subsequently determined that it will no longer use the referendum process to fund student organizations.

Many of the concerns that led to the original lawsuit exist on campuses within the SUNY, CUNY and community college systems in New York. In fact, a group of students at SUNY Albany have filed a lawsuit in federal district court in order to force compliance with the Southworth ruling there. This legislation is necessary in order to ensure that the Constitutional protections required by the U.S. Supreme Court for student activity fee programs are in place for students attending SUNY, CUNY or community colleges in New York.

Legislative history

2009-10: Referred to Higher Education

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first day of August next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.