SGA Senate gives SGA executives raise, budget examined
Meyer: stipends will “hold executives accountable”
Katie Rosenbaum and Patrick Stevenson
Xavier Newswire
Erika Breese
SGA Administrative Vice President-Elect Josh Badall, right.
The Xavier Student Government Association budget for the 2008-09 academic year includes a 9.5 percent raise for the three executives, as well as the Senate coordinator and the Student Activities Council chair.
The budget passed the Senate on Mar. 31 with only one dissenting vote. One Senator, freshman Chris Hale, abstained from voting because he had issue with the increased student stipends.
The new budget includes an increase in student stipends for the SGA president, legislative vice president, administrative vice president, Senate coordinator and SAC chair. The president’s stipend increased $750 to $9,500, an 8 percent increase. The legislative and administrative vice presidents’ salaries also both increased $750 to $6,750, an 11 percent increase. The Senate coordinator and SAC chair will both receive $4,865, a 6 percent increase from last year.
SGA President Maggie Meyer said that the salaries were increased for the first time in about 10 years at the recommendation of the administration and Human Resources department.
Meyer also stated that she did not consider alternative ways to compensate executives other than providing them with a stipend from SGA’s budget.
According to Meyer, “the purpose for having stipends is so that A) anyone can commit the time to serving as an executive regardless of one’s financial situation, B) the executives do not have to hold outside jobs to support themselves since being an executive is a full time job and C) because having a stipend holds the executives accountable.”
The budget notes also state that Meyer “consulted with Connie Perme (Human Resources) and the increases we have decided to propose were more than $300 less than her recommendations.”
There was a 6.5 percent tuition increase, which increased the SGA budget. This means that SGA received an extra $59,000. Meyer said the executives “were very thoughtful to where that money went,” adding that the “major priority was to pump funds back into students clubs organizations.”
Hale said that he agreed with “90 percent of the budget” and that the executives deserve to receive a stipend, but he believes that the money could go to help some other clubs.
Financial Affairs Chair Corey Burton was happy with the budget because SGA was able to offer clubs 94 percent of the Committee’s recommended amount, which is the highest Burton has seen since he has been on the board. Last year SGA was able to give clubs 81 percent of the recommended amount.
Burton added, however, that “he doesn’t believe in stipends. Co-chairs do lots of work as well and they continue to do their jobs because they like doing it, not because they are getting paid.”
Meyer stated that there was no discussion of providing more members of SGA with stipends instead of increasing the stipends of those who already receive them.
Sen. Ray O’Brien considered proposing an amendment against the stipends. He said that he has never been a fan of student stipends. “Executives have done a lot of work,” he continued, “and the stipends weren’t unreasonable, but more money for clubs would be great.”
O’Brien said he doesn’t want stipends to inflate upwards. “I wanted this to be a warning to freshmen senators when they are thinking of raising stipends three years from now that they were raised this year.”
Eddie Johnson, SGA’s Student Rights Representative, was critical of how SGA justifies their stipends to the student body.
“The justification I was given for those five positions receiving the compensation they do from Senate Coordinator Jen Downing is as follows: ‘The Executives, SAC chair and Senate coordinator are all compensated as part of the internal leadership team of SGA.’ Therefore, to the best of my understanding, that group of people are compensated for what they do for a group of 50, 30 or 20, and not for the entire student body,” Johnson said. “I find that justification of SGA stipends to be repugnant to my understanding of civil service because it is service to the few and not the many, and perhaps it isn’t really service.”
The Financial Affairs Committee, staffed by student senators, looks closely at all club budgets before recommending an appropriate budget allocation for each club.
The Committee is especially critical of clubs budgeting money for gifts, office supplies and miscellaneous expenditures.
SGA has allocated itself $6,400 in miscellaneous expenses, including $2,500 for office supplies, $1,500 for midyear gifts, $100 for holiday cards and $350 for water. They additionally budgeted $100 for Christmas photography and $350 for purchasing picture frames.
SGA also spent $2,000 on a banquet and $1,000 on banquet gifts for SGA members. At the banquet four-year senators receive special presents, as well as the senator and SAC-er of the year.
SGA cut a summer workshop for senators because Meyer and other senators believed that this was an unnecessary expense that SGA executives couldn’t justify and the senators could have a leadership workshop once they all returned to school in the fall.
Senators have raised concerns that officers and board members of other clubs and organizations put in almost comparable time and effort into their clubs with no compensation.
Leaders of other student organizations expressed concerns about the executive raises.
Junior Kristina Murray, vice-president of X-treme Fans for 2008-2009, said she “just recently found out that SGA executives got paid. I think that money should be distributed to other people and things. It is especially frustrating that I put so much time into X-treme Fans and work closely with SGA on many projects, and they get compensated for this work they do, and we aren’t.”
“The executives denied us money for an educational trip that we took this winter, which left us over $1,000 in the hole. So it’s surprising to see that they gave themselves a raise,” said Rosie Swan, president of Xavier Players. “It sends the message that we have to find ways to be stingy, but the SGA executives don’t.”
Kathryn Rosenbaum
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