For All
The Dawgs

Textbooks cost the average University of Washington student between $400 and $800 per year, and the financial burden is disproportionately borne by first-generation, low-income, and transfer students. Students should not have to sign up for classes without knowing the cost of the textbooks they will need to purchase. We will:

• Advocate for the mandatory disclosure of textbook costs as part of course registration, giving the student the power to make an informed decision before they are locked in.
• Advocate with the University of Washington Libraries and the Provost's office to increase the use of Open Educational Resources, especially in high-enrollment, high-textbook cost classes.
• Advocate with the University of Washington Libraries to expand the course reserve system to include more required textbooks at no cost to the student.

Parking at UW is expensive, and students who drive to the IMA or other recreational facilities for a short workout or brief visit should not be penalized for doing so. We will:

• Advocate with UW Transportation Services for the designation of free short-term parking spots specifically reserved for students using the IMA and other recreational facilities.
• Push for a guaranteed grace period for students parking briefly to access recreational facilities, so that a 45-minute visit does not result in a $75 parking ticket or fee.
• Work with ASUW's Director of University Affairs and relevant campus partners to identify the most viable parking locations and structures for this designation.

The $2,500 ASUW Special Appropriations Fund is one of the most direct ways student fees are cycled back into student communities. Unfortunately, many of UW's 900+ RSOs either don't know that this fund exists or find the process too opaque to navigate. Our plan will be:

• To actively seek out all RSOs, with special emphasis on smaller and newer organizations, to ensure they know how to access SAF funding.
• To simplify the application process and eliminate many bureaucratic hurdles for organizations that don't have dedicated staff.

Currently, out-of-state students at UW pay over $40,000 per year. The Western Undergraduate Exchange Program is an existing interstate compact among 16 states and territories that limits non-resident undergraduate tuition to 150% of in-state tuition. By joining WUE, out-of-state students can save tens of thousands of dollars throughout their academic careers. The ASUW Senate has passed a resolution supporting WUE participation. Now it is up to an executive team willing to hold the University administration accountable for making it happen.

Washington State's SB 5906 seeks to prohibit the sharing of student information with immigration officers, require the university president to be notified when ICE is on campus, and bar ICE officers from accessing non-public areas without a judicial warrant. ASUW's Director of Legislative Affairs has already expressed support for the legislation, and the ASUW Senate has adopted its own directive in support of the legislation as it relates to paid leave for University of Washington employees undergoing immigration proceedings.

This is not enough. We commit to:

• Not only supporting, but actively working to ensure the passage of SB 5906 through the legislative process through the ASUW Legislative Steering Committee and the Office of Government Relations, and making this legislation a clearly stated priority of our administration.
• Demanding that the University of Washington administration develop campus protocols related to immigration enforcement, so that our students are not left to find out through grassroots social media campaigns whether ICE is on campus or not.
• Working with Student Legal Services, the University's Office of Global Affairs, and other student organizations to ensure that undocumented and international students have immediate, accessible information about their rights, available in multiple languages.
• Supporting the creation of formal safe spaces on campus, utilizing the existing infrastructure developed by the student body.

ASUW has started a project to improve lighting along NE 45th St and campus safety walks, and we plan to build on this foundation with actual accountability. We plan to conduct a student safety survey to formally prioritize areas around gyms, libraries, residence halls, and Greek Row, and present our findings directly to the UW Police Advisory Board and Facilities Services.

The ASUW Senate passed a resolution that endorses a pro-student, pro-Indigenous smudging policy at UW. We are not just going to leave this on paper. We are going to work with the University administration to develop a policy that protects Indigenous students' cultural and spiritual practices without triggering fire safety red flags.

We will publish simplified, student-accessible monthly reports on the allocation of every dollar of the Services & Activities Fee and establish pathways for students to contribute to discussions on budget priorities. Students deserve to know what they are paying for.

We will work with the Director of Communications to distribute a regular, concise, and clear weekly report that simply lets students know exactly what ASUW is doing, what decisions are being made, and what it means for the student population. No bureaucratic jargon, no fluff, just a straightforward explanation of where their money is going and what their student government is doing about it.

We believe that access to reproductive health resources shouldn't depend on where you came from or if you even know what office to approach. Our plan includes:

• Advocating with UW Housing and Food Services to obtain sexual health vending machines in residence halls, providing resources such as condoms, birth control information, and emergency contraception options.
• Making sure these vending machines are not just installed, but also actively promoted through cultural student organizations, international student networks, and first-gen student organizations.
• Continuing and expanding free STI testing through our partnership with the Husky Health Center, thus assisting those who might experience cultural stigmatization and fear of record-keeping.
• Continuing to secure state funding for abortion services through our Legislative Steering Committee.
• Increasing availability of over-the-counter medication in residence halls and district markets, eliminating obstacles to pharmacy visits.

ASUW has been able to distribute Naloxone in residence halls and provide vaccination clinics this year. ASUW will continue and enhance these programs in the following ways: maintain free access to Naloxone, including expanding locations; provide at least 2 vaccination clinics, including multilingual promotion; and continue free access to STI testing through the Husky Health Center.

At UW, we have a thriving environment of student groups working on issues of health equity, including the Health Equity Circle, SHIFA (immigrant and underserved community health access), CCM/Comunidad en Camino a la Medicina (Latinx communities), MAPS at UW (underrepresented pre-health students), Students of Color for Public Health, and Student Advocates for Immigrant Justice at UW Law. These groups are the experts in the area, and ASUW's role is to support them, not replicate them. We will:

• Develop an official ASUW Health RSO Coalition convening each Autumn Quarter to coordinate efforts, disseminate information, and ensure alignment with the ASUW advocacy schedule.
• Co-sponsor at least one health equity-related event per quarter through the Joint Commissions Committee or Special Appropriations Fund.
• Develop and maintain an official ASUW webpage that provides links to health equity organizations, Husky Health resources, insurance resources, and other health partners, and actively promote the webpage through ASUW communications channels.

UW does not provide any kind of health insurance to its domestic students, including those who are DACA and undocumented. Some services offered by the Husky Health Plan are already subsidized through the Services & Activities Fee, which all students pay as a condition of attending the university. Students are not aware of this fact, which is an ASUW failure we can directly address. We will:

• Launch a targeted, plain-language campaign to educate students, especially those who are first-generation, undocumented, and new international students, about the existence of SAF-funded Husky Health services and that these services are available to students regardless of insurance status.
• Advocate for an expansion of the number and type of SAF-subsidized services available to uninsured students, including basic health care such as STI testing, contraception, vaccinations, and basic primary care without the need for insurance.
• Develop a dedicated Husky Health navigation tool for undocumented and DACA students, including plain-language information on Apple Health (Medicaid) eligibility, which includes residency requirements that often unintentionally disqualify students who would otherwise be eligible.
• Educate students about the January 2026 change to Regence BlueShield, which moved Husky Health out of network for a number of Exchange plans, resulting in significantly increased costs for students who are unaware that their insurance provider has changed.

First-generation students are less likely to seek preventive care, more likely to delay seeking medical care because of cost, and less likely to be aware that some Husky Health services are already paid for through SAF. Our plan is to:

• Work with the First-Generation Huskies program and the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center to integrate health navigation into the first-gen student onboarding process each year.
• Produce and disseminate a clear and concise document entitled, "What does Husky Health cover for you?" during orientation, through cultural student organizations and through ASUW communications channels.

The distinction between having access to health care and being able to afford it is a very real and significant factor at the UW. The costs of medical clearance procedures, such as a TB test and vaccines, to get a job or volunteer can be a significant equity factor that ASUW should consider addressing. We will:

• Advocate through UW's Student Health Advisory Committee to expand the student health plan coverage, with a specific focus on international student coverage and routine preventive care.
• Work to reduce or waive student charges for medical clearances that are prerequisites for on-campus jobs and volunteering, to avoid financial obstacles for student involvement.
• Explore solutions to alleviate medical debt burdens with financial counseling agencies and advocate on a larger scale.

We also plan to collaborate with the university's Title IX office and its SafeCampus program to facilitate accessible, trauma-informed support pathways for survivors. We understand that immigrant and first-generation survivors often face additional obstacles, such as fear of institutional consequences, cultural stigmatization, and complex family structures, and we are committed to ensuring that support resources are culturally responsive, not just accessible.

International students in ISHIP have to pay for health coverage, after which they are met with the LifeWise portal, benefit booklets, and appointment systems that are fully accessible in English only. Having insurance should mean being able to use it. We will:

• Partner with international student RSOs and the UW Office of Global Affairs to create new peer health navigation guides in several languages, made possible through ASUW's Special Appropriations Fund.
• Work in advocacy with Husky Health and the ISHIP office to improve multilingual support, capitalizing on the strong foundation of current multilingual ISHIP resources.
• Advocate for culturally competent care providers in the Husky Health office so students working on sensitive topics can do so in a culturally sensitive environment.

Those most affected by housing insecurity are freshmen, out-of-state students, and individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. We will work with UW Housing and Food Services and the student basic needs coalition to bring to the forefront the issue of housing insecurity at the University level, advocate for emergency housing solutions and well-defined channels to resources for students in crisis, and use ASUW resources to connect students with resources already available to them, such as the UW Food Pantry.

ASUW's $10,000 contribution to the UW Food Pantry, as well as support for the Bean Basket bulk buying program, represent two of the most direct ways in which student fees can support students in need. We will continue and expand these programs, extend the scope and awareness of the Bean Basket program, particularly among first-year students, and investigate the possibilities of co-sponsoring these programs with food security-related student RSOs via the Special Appropriations Fund.

Students experiencing financial difficulties should not have to worry about accumulating fines that prevent them from accessing other vital university resources. We will establish a partnership with the UW Library, the UW Transportation Services, and the UW Food Pantry to launch a "Food for Fines" program. Instead of paying late fines, students can bring non-perishable items to the library to "donate" them for a credit toward fines. Alternatively, students unable to acquire food to donate may volunteer for the UW Food Pantry or other campus programs addressing food security — turning a financial obstacle into something that benefits students and the community at large.

ASUW will utilize the A&E Special Events Allowance (up to $90,000) to secure artists, DJs, comedians, and speakers that students are actually interested in, not programming that merely checks a box. We will work with student input, gathering feedback each quarter through RSOs, cultural organizations, and general surveys to ensure the events are the ones students want to see. We will also work with the Director of Programming to develop at least one major recurring quarterly event that could become a tradition at the University of Washington.

Recruiting access is currently uneven across the university. Arts & Sciences and other non-business students are underrepresented in all employer events, which are publicly announced as open to all students. In collaboration with the Career & Internship Center, we will advocate for:

• An "Open Doors" standard for premium corporate campus partners: a minimum of one cross-disciplinary recruiting event annually, open to all students from all programs.
• Reserved interview access for students from underrepresented programs, to be negotiated with participating employers.
• ASUW-hosted Skills Showcase events, which match students with employers based on demonstrated skills rather than declared majors.

ASUW's Joint Commissions Committee provides mechanisms for funding and co-sponsorship, and we will make sure to take advantage of them to encourage cooperation between RSOs, cultural organizations, and Greek life, making joint events financially feasible for smaller groups that might not be able to afford them on their own.

The Senate Bill SB-32-01, which addresses institutional reform, proposes various structural changes to ASUW governance in light of a recognized decline in student trust. We will earnestly work on this process. A more accountable ASUW means a more effective ASUW, and we don't care for institutional inertia.

The UW plan to restructure the College of Arts & Sciences will eliminate more than 150 staff positions and impose a shared-services approach to advising, which has been shown to result in worse student outcomes. The ASUW Senate has already passed a resolution calling upon Dean Harris to appear before the Senate to defend these cuts and explain why options such as dipping into university savings, delaying construction projects, and cutting leadership salaries proportionally are not viable. We wholeheartedly support this resolution, and as executive officers, we will work hard to ensure that the Board of Directors adopts it and amplifies, rather than lessens, the pressure placed upon University leadership.

The ASUW Senate also encouraged the state of Washington to extend ranked-choice voting to local elections, a system that ASUW itself uses. We will continue to move this forward through the ASUW Office of Government Relations as part of a broader effort to build civic engagement infrastructure for young voters in Washington.

Graduate and professional students across many programs at UW are facing increasing competition for jobs. Although students have found internships and jobs in schools such as the Foster School of Business, the Law School, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, Social Work, Medicine, and Education, many positions do not offer school-sponsored visas for international students. Additionally, UW lacks a well-developed pipeline from undergraduate to graduate programs within the university — a gap ASUW can help fill.

• Pair with a graduate program (or programs) to co-host a campus-wide Graduate Program Showcase, and display the program to interested undergraduate students to introduce them to a field and to gain insight into the career trajectory and training for that field, as well as information about funding and/or specialized resources for that program.
• Support open-access career and mentorship panels (possibly including a panel of alumni) for use by undergraduate and/or graduate students through the Special Appropriations Fund.
• Promote and support cross-cohort mentorship and pipeline programs across campus, from undergraduate programs at UW to the graduate and professional schools.
• Partner with the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) to advocate jointly on issues that are of concern to both undergraduate and graduate students, such as changes to visa policies, job market issues, and student mental health and well-being.

SAF guidelines require events to be directed primarily at undergraduates and demonstrate broad student benefit. ASUW cannot directly subsidize graduate-only programming, but cross-disciplinary events with clear undergraduate benefit are eligible. We are committed to these options and will be transparent with graduate student partners about what is and is not within our authority.

The Interdisciplinary Climate Action Coalition (ICA) and a broader coalition have been pushing the university to decarbonize its fossil fuel power plant, but have been met with resistance from a hesitant administration that is not meeting the timelines set out for themselves in their own Sustainability Action Plan. ASUW will be standing in support of ICA and the student effort to decarbonize UW's power plant, utilizing the resources of the Student Sustainability Council, the Campus Sustainability Fund, and the Environmental Stewardship Committee to support that effort, and making sure that we use every seat at the table to keep the issue at the forefront until it is resolved.