In the face of opposition from student governments throughout
the University of California system, a systemwide student lobbying
organization is issuing unprecedented stipends to both its chair
and vice chair this year, all during a budget deficit.
One of those recipients is Chris Neal, vice chair of the
University of California Student Association and external vice
president of the UCLA Undergraduate Students Association
Council.
With the approval of the budget, the association, responsible
for advocating student issues at the university-wide and state
levels, will issue Neal a stipend totalling $3,000 this year.
Neal, along with UCSA Chair Steve Klass, the EVP of the UC San
Diego student government, are the first UCSA chairs to be stipended
by the association, Neal said. Klass will receive $4,200.
Neal’s USAC’s office currently receives close to
$5,000 a year from student fees. An additional $25,000 will be
issued per quarter with the implementation of the recently-passed
fee referendum.
The UCSA board, comprised of EVPs from graduate and
undergraduate councils from all of the UCs, approved the new budget
this October.
Board members then presented the budget to their respective
student governments for approval.
Many UC councils have already voiced their disapproval.
The UCSA budget was rejected without any opposition by the UCLA
Graduate Student Association in early November, GSA EVP Hanish
Rathod said.
GSA’s opposition arose from the fact that UCSA will have a
budget deficit of $17,000 with the inclusion of the newly-issued
stipends in its expenses.
The graduate student council also opposed Neal’s
“double dipping,” Rathod said.
“He’s already getting paid by USAC for doing the
same thing,” he said.
The undergraduate student government of UC Davis also passed a
resolution rejecting the budget, said Anthony Volkar, director of
the Associated Students of UCD’s state and national affairs
office.
But the rejection was not based on the stipends, Volkar said.
Instead, the associated students of UCD opposed a budget running on
a deficit.
“When our main lobbying group is operating on a deficit,
it reflects poorly on the groups (it represents).”
Neal has not yet presented the UCSA budget to USAC despite UCSA
bylaws that require board members to present the budget at the
first student government meeting following the budget’s
approval. The budget is slated for consideration at tonight’s
USAC meeting.
Neal said he needed the additional money from UCSA to deal with
the increased amount of work that the position encompasses.
The access of more resources is needed to go beyond his normal
duties, Neal said.
“I felt I needed compensation for the extreme amount of
time put into the position,” he said.
Compared to a conventionally-paying job, the pay from USAC and
UCSA is fairly small, Neal added.
Neal also said the stipend would encourage future council
members to run for UCSA chairs.
Some board members argued that sitting on the UCSA board is
included in the EVP’s job description itself.
“I am not doing this to be paid; I am just doing my
job,” Rathod said.
But Rathod argued that the positions are prestigious and are
sought after by board members whether or not a stipend is
involved.
USAC President David Dahle said he had mixed feelings about
Neal’s additional pay.
“It’s a hard issue,” Dahle said.
“Because (Neal) is doing a whole other job, a stipend is not
totally nongermane.”
But, all the council members are in the same boat, Dahle
added.
“A lot of us sit on other boards and don’t get
stipends from anyone else,” he said. “All of us
don’t get paid much.”
Undergraduate students, who contribute 91 cents per quarter to
UCSA, had varied opinions about Neal’s pay increase.
“Because of the budget (deficit), he shouldn’t get
paid right now,” said Ricky Chung, a third-year electrical
engineering student.
But third-year economics and Asian American studies student Diem
Pham said Neal did have the right to be paid as he is spending
extra time working towards corrective causes.
Tonight’s USAC meeting will be held in 417 Kerckhoff Hall
at 7 p.m.