With the Constitutional Council’s recent ruling on partial refunds of special fees, it will now be easier for students the reclamation of funds that would have been allocated to specific student groups. The refund option and process will also be more highly publicized.

Sophomore Joshua Doty submitted the petition for the case — which was held two weeks ago — arguing that the current refund system was unconstitutional because there was no clear way to request a partial refund of a special fee. The case was passed on a 4-0 vote with one abstention, and will result in the reworking of the refund Web site and boosting publicity about obtaining refunds.

Every quarter, students are charged a student activities fee on their University bill. The money is then distributed by the ASSU to help fund various student groups on campus.

According to the ASSU funding Web site, two types of funding are available: discretionary funds and special fees funds.

“Discretionary funds are intended for the majority of student groups,” states the Web site. “Special Fees are intended for groups that serve a large portion of the Stanford community and, as a result, have large budgets.” Student groups desiring additional funding beyond the discretionary amount apply for special fees.

The Undergraduate Senate and Graduate Student Council decided in the recent meetings which groups are to be placed on the ballot for the spring election. The student body will then decide which groups to fund with special fees.

Students have the option of requesting a refund of their general fee contributions that go to specific groups. Student groups are responsible for issuing the refunds, but are then allowed to deprive the student of any services the group offers. Each group makes its own decisions about how to treat those students who requested refunds, and students who request even a partial refund may be denied services.

Doty submitted a petition to the Constitutional Council reading, “The current system only provides the option for the entire withdraw of funds for the groups listed. However, ... as detailed and permitted in the ASSU Constitution, members of the Association should be provided with a convenient avenue of selecting partial refunds of the various special fee groups,” citing Article V, Section 4.1 of the ASSU Constitution.

“I brought the case to the Constitutional Council because until this quarter, I was unaware that I even had the ability to get refunds and the way the current system is set up makes it difficult for students to obtain one,” Doty said. “I felt all students should be aware of their ability to get a refund because they have a right to choose what to do with their own money.”

Junior Chris Nguyen, chair of the Undergraduate Senate, represented Doty in the case.

“For the student body, this ruling protects the rights of students to object to a specific event or a specific expense (such as officer salary or meeting food) without objecting to an entire group,” Nguyen said. “For student groups, this could decrease how much money goes to refunds, as some people who used to refund a group’s whole fee may opt to refund part of the group’s fee instead.”

Nguyen said he didn’t think the ruling would have much of an impact on the ASSU, other than the effort of redesigning the Web site. He added, however, that he was surprised that the Web site will need to be redesigned by this spring quarter rather than next fall.

Patrick Crosetto, a MBA student and a member of the Constitutional Council, said he thinks the ruling will “allow for a more transparent system.”

“People will be more educated about the process of getting refunds and people who want refunds will no longer be inhibited,” he said. “Refunds are a right, not a privilege.”

Doty said he did not request a refund for this quarter, but in the future, will decide at the beginning of each quarter, starting this spring. While this was his first time submitting a petition to the ASSU, Doty said he will not hesitate doing it again.

“I would definitely consider submitting another case if it would benefit students,” said Doty, adding that he is considering going into law in the future. He also stressed that his one and only priority in the case was maintaining students’ rights.

“The purpose of my petition was not so that I could get a refund, but that ultimately students’ rights are protected,” he said.