The last stage of Blugold Commitment funding was scheduled to kick in this fall.

But when state legislators passed a UW system tuition freeze in the 2013-2015 state budget this summer, Blugold Commitment funds froze also.

“It’s definitely disappointing, especially when the governor realizes what segregated fees do and yet he somehow doesn’t understand how the Blugold Commitment is different,” Student Body President Bryan Larson said.

Student Senate unanimously passed a resolution at its meeting Monday affirming its support of the Blugold Commitment, although the long-term project plan may be on pause.

It’s a plan to fund a wide swath of programs — such as study abroad access, research projects and bottleneck courses — with differential tuition funds.

Differential tuition acts like segregated fees. It’s a charge tacked on to tuition and student senate is directly involved in overseeing how commitment funds are dispersed.

Students paid an extra $900 a semester for the Blugold Commitment last year, and were scheduled to pay $1,200 this year. In future years, funding increases would’ve stopped at $1,200 per semester.

But after the freeze, commitment funds held at $900, putting off projects the university had planned to fund with the final installment. Last year, Senate unanimously passed a resolution supporting a tuition freeze.

Although Larson said projects planned to go into effect this year will be put off, Eau Claire will still be able to staff extra teachers for bottleneck courses.

“Everything we were operating with last year stays as is,” Larson said “We were planning on giving base funding to some of these programs that have been applying. We have put that on hold as well.”

The state budget runs for two years, so unless state government allows Blugold funds to increase, they’ll stay frozen through 2015.

Larson said the university will meet with state legislators this school year to try and implement the rest of Blugold funds.

“We know the governor acknowledges student impact, so it’s just a matter of communicating that in terms of the Blugold Commitment when we go to Madison,” Larson said. “I feel like we can make a serious blip on the radar at least.”

According to the senate resolution, “Student senate believes that the freeze of Blugold differential tuition is a disservice to the student body.”

Senator Jake Wrasse said it’s important the student senate shows it still supports differential tuition.

“I think this is a really great thing,” Wrasse said. “If you have any involvement in the Blugold Commitment, you know how many staff are hired, the amount of research that is funded. This resolution is simply saying we support the continuation of that.”

Senator Sam Fish introduced the bill to senate. Student senate still needs to approve its legislative priorities, a list outlining goals for the year. Fish said he hopes the Blugold Commitment will rank high on that list.

“Hopefully this will be a top priority among student reps,” Fish said. “This resolution supports the Blugold Commitment and shows that we’re still invested.”