By Daniel Johnson, Sports Editor
Whomever the student body chooses to be the Students’ Association Executive Officers this week will get substantially more than the title.
Each of the winners of the SA elections will receive two $4,023 scholarships during their tenure, which is a $527 increase from the amount the 2007-08 SA Executive Officers received. At the beginning of the year, the officers decide whether the sum is a stipend or a scholarship.
“I don’t think anyone would do it if there wasn’t some sort of incentive,” said treasurer Kevan Kirksey.
According to the Students’ Association bylaws, the executive officer scholarship amount is determined by multiplying the cost of hourly tuition by .45 and then multiplying that total by 15. The Board of Trustees raised the cost of tuition 7 percent, from $557 per hour to $596 per hour, and consequently the amount of the scholarship increased. The funds for the scholarships come from the SA budget, which derives from a $35 per student portion of the $75 student activity fee all undergraduate students pay each semester.
There are three positions that are elected by the student body – president, vice president and treasurer – and four students receive the scholarship. The executive secretary, who is appointed by the president, vice president and treasurer, receives a scholarship that is the same amount as the elected officers.
“I think it is an incentive to bring in student leaders and needs to be something that is advertised more,” Kirksey said.
Although the scholarship amount for SA executive officers increased, president Matt Worthington said he does not believe the student activity fee will also be increased, but did
concede that rejiggering the formula for future officers’ scholarships may be something next year’s congress should discuss.
“I think that’s definitely a discussion that people need to have,” Worthington said. “In general, some of us feel like maybe we get paid too generously.”
A student activity fee increase requires a request from the SA Congress and must be approved by the Board of Trustees; the last activity fee increase was in 2006.
“The Board of Trustees are the ones who give the final say,” Worthington said.
Worthington said that during the 2007-08 school year, the SA officers tried to implement policies and organize events for all students, while establishing rapport with the administration to be a voice for the student body for campus decisions. But if there was not a scholarship for executive officers, it may not have happened.
“For somebody like me, there is no way I could get a side job, go to school and do what I do,” Worthington said.
Kirksey agreed, stating that the scholarship was a small reward for the weekly work the SA executive officers put in. According to the SA bylaws, all executive officers must work 20 hours a week, and Kirksey and Worthington said officers spend more time than required working in the SA office next to the Bean Sprout.
“Having the executive scholarship helps me do this job,” Worthington said.
