U-PASS Advisory Board Retreat October 16th, 2015 I.

Introductions Present:           

II.

Hailey Badger – Fmr. AB Member Thomas Crowe – ASUW Representative Sri Harsha Garuda – GPSS Representative Celeste Gilman – Transportation Services Zack Howard – Transportation Services Josh Kavanagh – Transportation Advisor Hester Serebrin – GPSS Representative Katherine Sims – ASUW Representative Cooper Smith – U-PASS Liaison Rene Singleton – Student Life Advisor Alice Popejoy – Fmr. GPSS President

U-PASS History Presentation – Zack Howard Zach: “Why U-PASS?” A need to alleviate parking situation on campus. Hailey: How did you pay for the cost of U-PASS to Metro before Orca service existed? Josh: We paid for every ride, the model of ridership was based on survey data. More recently our new model is based on this year’s actual ridership data. Zach: The role students played in the U-PASS model – a universal model, immediately lowered individual fees by 30%. Josh: The connection to the Services and Activities Fee goes back to 2010-11, and a debate about whether U-PASS should be in SAF or a standalone. Students made an argument for a standalone fee mechanism based on the way they wanted the fee to be governed, and financial logistics due to limits on how SAF can change over time relative to tuition. Transit market costs associated with U-PASS are unrelated to how tuition changes, so they didn’t want to move from one unsustainable system to another. It’s amazing how hard it is to define a student, and then explain that definition to University computer systems. The agreed definition of a student for U-PASS follows the exact same logic already coded for SAF, and the connection to SAF exists because of this agreement. A question the AB will wrestle with this year, is whether or not “all students” (universality) is appropriate; specifically how to approach distance-learning students.

Zach: Last year was the first time the Universal U-PASS fee has increased. There will be a new link light rail station near campus next year. Due to lots of uncertainty, the AB decided on a conservative estimate that establishes a fee student body can agree with but also ensures financial health of the U-PASS program. Celeste: We’re continuously going through the process of evaluating and estimating. There is no interest in repeating a shock to students due to a large increase like we’ve had in the past. Josh: Another issue you will address is how much you will want to smooth the curve on future rates. ** Tyler Wu – ASUW President joins ** Suelin Kwon – Administrative Assistant to the Personnel Director joins Zach: 2014 was not a good time for transit. There were reductions in King County Metro service, including routes to the UW. In response, UW Transportation Services began the Commute Concierge service, which have helped almost 3,000 people in just over a year find a commute that works for them. Alice: So UW staff can opt in to U-PASS, but are not required? Zach: Yes, but financially it’s a separate budget for staff than the student budget. Not a universal program for staff. Entire U-PASS budget is about two thirds of funding from students, one quarter from TDM fee, final 10% from university. Josh: 10% from university stays the same even as the costs of the program fluctuate. So it will always be 10% of the budget. Zach: How is U-PASS doing today? Well! U-PASS works. Incredibly low number of people commute by car for a campus of this size. Tyler: How big was survey? Zach: 600 students, they were asked about a week of their travel. Josh: It is a carefully crafted sample, statistically significant. Zach: U-PASS lowers barriers to accessing campus. In the same survey, 80% said U-PASS made their commute easier. Josh: University Master Plan contains agreements on transportation caps. The U-PASS has a role in maintaining these caps and is key to campus expansion plans into the future. Hester: What is daily parking capacity? Josh: At peak 80-85% largely concentrated on East campus.

Zach: U-PASS doesn’t just benefit students, but also the university community as a whole. Josh: U-PASS doesn’t just benefit people who ride the bus, but every student. Land savings are dollars that don’t end up in tuition bills. This is one of the reasons why students pushed for a socialized program, a community good. III.

Advisory Board History Celeste: Part of the program’s change to universality included the involvement of students in the program and the creation of the advisory board. Josh: Advisory Board is really amazing. Not shared governance, but student governance. You all own it, and Zack, Celeste, Cooper, and I work for you. It’s a massive responsibility, but also incredibly cool. I’ve never seen another university that is structured this way, or a legislature that’s given students the responsibility. It’s very exciting. Some of the people in this room were able to show just how effective this AB can be last year. Celeste: The first year was focused on setting up the AB’s structure. It was also the first year of ORCA. We also received a lot of requests for exemptions in the first year. Rene: It was an interesting learning experience for the students. A time for general students to come in or parents to come in to the AB meetings to share their feelings, some of them not thrilled (with universality). The AB had to think about how to be inclusive rather than exclusive. As long as things go well and people are happy, you are not likely to have many visitors (this year), but things can change overnight, and that is something you need to be prepared for. Right now, the way the fee increase was handled was very smooth, so there was not a lot of controversy. You are all in a very good space now. Josh: The first year was a little rough, yes. Celeste: A particular group not pleased with the change were the University Academic Employees (UAW). Josh: When opt-out fee was replaced with universal fee, there were also a number of other fee adjustments that year. But the big two were the facilities renewal fee (Hall Health, HUB renovation) and the U-PASS fee. A big chunk (of fees) in that year. A subset of grad student employees represented by UAW had a contract that said they wouldn’t be subjected to increases in fees. A dispute between the University and UAW occurred over whether or not these fee increases were new university fees or something different. A grievance was filed, it went into mediation, then arbitration, and a ruling came back that was surprising: the U-PASS fee could not be charged to UAW members. The University went back to UAW about a settlement that would supersede the ruling and be feasible for everyone. The University agreed to provide a rebate to

UAW members who did not use benefit of U-PASS. Important language to note there: “rebate from university” vs “a refund from students”. The arbitrator’s ruling found against students even though they weren’t a part of the fee increase process. Ultimately, the University created a plan that didn’t impact the U-PASS budget. The rebate program lasted about 3 years. Last year, the UAW bargained a settlement on disputed fees, and the rebate program became moot. So now, grad students pay the U-PASS fee and there is no rebate. Alice: Graduate students agreed to pay a U-PASS fee, but the agreement was a netreduction in total fees for grad students. Celeste: In 2011-12 we explored the idea of U-PASS extending beyond regular school quarters. In 2012-13 we had the UAW settlement and a coordination of NightRide and NightWalk programs. We also generated our first Annual Report. In 2013-14 the AB began to consider the issue of distance-learning students. The University systems does not define who is a distance-learning student; and many students who are in this situation do not come to campus and don’t see the immediate tangible benefits of U-PASS. This is the group we hear from the most. Alice: One exception is the WWAMI program. These students are easily identifiable and easy to exempt vs. benefitting from UW community. Josh: We also have online students who do live in the Puget Sound region and can use the benefits of the U-PASS. So defining types of students is very difficult. Celeste: This is an issue that is ongoing. In your binder there should be a distance learning white paper (last item in 1.b) that will be a useful reference. Josh: One last thing, that’s typographical that I want to highlight, but the Advisory Board is indeed advisory. The AB makes “recommendations”, it doesn’t issue or not issue exemptions. **Adam Khan – ASUW Representative joins Hailey: Last year we talked about NightRide shuttle zones, but most substantive conversations were around the U-PASS fee, especially since it was the first ever increase proposal. I think we did a pretty good job, and everyone was really happy with the results too. Alice: In ASUW, they approved the fee, and in GPSS the senate approved it. It was really unclear who had authority. We decided that a full senate vote is necessary for the ASUW president to sign. The President still has authority to sign, but it has to be recommended by the full senate. Don’t be afraid to speak up for your student constituents, Transportation Services is receptive and will respond. Josh: One of the things we learned was we need to make more of the AB process visible to senate, so they don’t feel rushed when a proposal is finalized. Communication

with the senate needs to begin early so they have time to wrestle with the same questions the AB has, before the AB makes a hard decision. Celeste: One thing we will be talking about is creating a presentation for this quarter for the student senate. Hester: What is our role as liaisons to the senate? Josh: There is no formal liaison role for senate, but Cooper somewhat fills this role. Every year how communication is done by leaders is slightly different. Alice: We currently have some miscommunication and confusion about roles. Renee: We’re all new and it’s early. Josh: If leaders are not asking for reports from the AB, the board should be proactive and get the AB’s work on the radar. **Katherine Sims and Thomas Crowe take leave Celeste: The previous AB directed the next AB to tackle the issue of distance-learning students’ participation. The previous year’s AB did not take a vote or give a presentation to the senate, so that will be something for you to consider this quarter. IV.

Current AB & TS Agreement and Responsibilities Josh: The U-PASS Trust is extra money above our year to year fees that we roll over in case of emergency (e.g. if ridership forecasts are different than projected). There was a question of “Who’s does this money\trust belong to?” There was never an agreement with administration on this. In the new MOU there is now a commitment from admin in what order dollars get spent in (trust money is a student fund, last), and clarification of the two-year ramp up. A hefty re-write. We also touched on the advisory nature of this board, and the importance of good communication with GPSS and ASUW. Also, rules and protocols of how the AB works (bylaws). **Monica Cortes-Viharo – GPSS Vice Pres. of Internal Affairs joins **Reed Keeney – Transportation Services joins Rene: There were operational disputes about the AB’s behavior/process; it’s not good practice to do things on your own protocol or without quorum; you will get called out by constituents. If there is no conversation with students, there will be friction. There may be things you have to do for expedience sake, but it is not advisable. Even if the AB is not subject to OPMA, GPSS and ASUW are. You don’t want your representatives to say that the AB was not transparent, did not inform, or did something shady.

It’s more than optics, it’s an ethical obligation to represent the students. UW is one of the few schools where students have a say over the way money is spent (shared governance). Be dedicated, present, and accounted for. V.

Financial Reports Orientation Reed: These (financial) documents are in your binder under section 5. Surplus and deficit on first document, actual and planned. The last section of the first document is money set aside for contingency, probably payment to City of Seattle for TDM Fee over next four years. We’re expecting to have a portion of it paid soon. The last part is 3.3 million trust money that student government is entrusted with. Josh: We expect an assessment from City to come in any day, then the dispute process will follow. Potentially lawyering up, or a negotiation with city hall. The City of Seattle has challenged UWTS’ interpretation of the parking tax, so we will see where this all goes. Adam: Is there a timeline? Like arbitration? Josh: No. We are now in year three of this process. We have been accruing a contingency fund in anticipation of the City assessment. For the U-PASS student trust, we clarified the order of spending and the color of the money (it is student money officially); and the AB last year adopted a recommended minimum reserve (one twelfth of projected annual operating expenses). While Reed mentioned that you could spend the trust money, there is a contracted minimum target set to protect the program from bankruptcy as we go into a period of volatility with the budget. We don’t want to have to increase fees to balance the books. The minimum is one month’s operating costs. Reed: If anyone has questions please feel free to contact us (Transportation Services).

VI.

Looking Forward & Adjournment Cooper: In addition to the emails I will be sending you, I’ve also set up a FB group page, so please let me know if you don’t have access to it and we will work that out. For the next meeting please take time to review the 2014-15 Annual Report in your binders as it needs approval from the AB. Going forward we want to have at minimum one meeting a month over Fall quarter, but we have a lot on our plate and two per month may be necessary. We are aiming to have another meeting before the end of October, so I will be in touch with you on that Monday. Please fill out the When2Meet poll I’ve sent out via email and on the FB group page. And as always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Thank you all for coming out today.