Some staff members in undergraduate student government offices will not see their pay increase this year, though their stipend caps were raised last month.
In early August, members of the Undergraduate Students Association Council voted to increase their monthly stipends from $355 to $672 in a 8-1-0 vote.
Many councilmembers said low stipends could prevent students with unstable finances from joining USAC and that nearly doubling their stipends would make USAC more accessible to students.
The stipend increase for councilmembers — which went into effect this month — proportionally raises stipend caps for other paid members of USAC and for student group leaders who belong to the hundreds of organizations officially registered with USAC.
But the stipend increase for USAC office staff members was not the main focus of the council’s discussions before the vote, though it was taken into consideration.
Funding for all stipends stems from mandatory student fees, which the student body voted for in the past. But the specific source of funding for different stipended positions in USAC varies, said Patricia Zimmerman, student government services manager.
For councilmembers and other students appointed to stipended positions on USAC — such as members of the Finance Committee, Election Board or Community Service Mini Fund Committee — stipends come from the USAC overhead budget, which is a combination of the Student Government Operational Fund and the Student Organizations Operational Fund.
All funding left over after stipends and other administrative costs are allocated make up the separate Student Government Operational Fund and the Student Organizations Operational Fund.
The money that goes toward USAC staff stipends comes from the Student Government Operational Fund and other resources specific to each USAC office.
Students who hold stipended positions separate from the 13 USAC offices will see their stipends rise proportionally unless they opt out of receiving a pay increase or a stipend at all.
Raising stipend caps does not directly affect the amount of money members of each USAC office’s staff make.
The ultimate power to allocate funds in each USAC office — toward stipends, programming or other office projects— belongs to each individual councilmember.
Councilmembers can base funding allocations for their offices on the amount of money they have to run their offices and the costs of initiatives they want to pursue throughout the year.
Following the stipend increase, different councilmembers decided to either nearly double their staff’s pay by raising it to the new stipend cap, to pay members of their staff less than the new stipend cap permits or to not pay their staffs at all.
Some staff members receive larger stipends than others partially because the budget of each USAC office varies, said General Representative Sunny Singh.
Every USAC office receives about $2,060 from the Student Government Operational Fund, but some offices — such as the Campus Events Commission and the Community Service Commission — have larger budgets because they receive more money from fee increase referendums students have passed.
Some members of USAC who can receive higher stipends, such as chiefs of staff and project directors, do not because their office’s budget does not allow for it, said Savannah Badalich, student wellness commissioner.
Badalich said her staff has historically received stipends lower than their caps, and that she plans not to raise her staff’s stipends to the new caps this year, so she can allocate the money toward programming costs. She added that she raised some of her staff member’s stipends by about $10.
“(My staff’s stipends) weren’t raised to the caps because my office can’t afford it,” she said. “If I could I would raise all of (their stipends) but I can’t.”
Badalich said she thinks stipends for staff members should have constituted a larger part of the council’s discussions about stipend increases, but that the issue was less focused on because staff stipends are left up to the discretion of each office.
Financial Supports Commissioner Lauren Rogers is one of the councilmembers who chose not to pay her staff this year.
Because of her office’s budget this year, Rogers said she chose to use all of her funding to support office initiatives and programming. She added that her office has not historically allocated stipends.
Other members of USAC were able to increase their staff’s stipends.
USAC President John Joanino said he has raised his staff’s pay to the new stipend cap because he thinks insufficient stipends prevent some students from taking on positions in USAC offices.
“I’ve seen people drop out of USAC who aren’t councilmembers because of the time commitment,” he said.
He added that the council partially chose to raise its own stipends so they could raise stipends for members of their staffs.
“At the end of the day it’s not just about (councilmember) stipends,” he said. “It’s a larger overarching access issue.”
Cultural Affairs Commissioner Jessica Trumble also raised the stipends of her staff members to the cap and said she thinks raising their stipends proportionally to her own was the right course of action.
“I felt like in everything I said (at the council discussions,) the undercurrent was my staff,” she said.
The exact number of staff members who will see their stipends increase is not yet clear because some students have not filled out the necessary paperwork to receive their stipends at this time, Zimmerman said.