The Associated Students of Madison’s Student Services Finance Committee increased stipends for the chair positions of the Student Activity Center Governing Board and Student Judiciary during its budget decision Thursday, asserting it is adjusting the stipends to be more consistent.
SSFC Chair Brandon Williams ceded his position to Vice Chair Michael Romenesko for the beginning of the meeting to allow himself to make the proposed increases to the stipends during the decision for the SJ budget.
“Looking at the big picture of their [proposed] budget, it hasn’t changed from last year to this year,” Williams said. “Normally, in a fiscal term, that is a good thing. But in this case, I think it is a downfall.”
Currently, chairs’ stipends are not determined by a consistent set of regulations. Under a new framework, stipends would be determined by hours worked and the type of work accomplished. Chairs would receive funding calculated as a percentage of their tuition.
Williams proposed the addition of $770 to the chief justice position, which would bring the total stipend to $6,070. This amounts to approximately 65 percent of tuition rates.
The stipend for chair of SACGB was increased from $5,300 to $6,530.
Williams said the increase was tied to 70 percent of tuition, due to the increased time demanded for this position.
Williams added for each of the chairs he went along with the adjustments calculated by SSFC Secretary Matthew Manes to bring them in line with current tuition rates.
He said SSFC would be making the stipends of the chairs of the other ASM committees consistent with these raises.
Rep. Boan Sianipar said he did not understand why the SSFC chair was tied to 90 percent of tuition, while the chief justice was merely 65 percent.
“It is different between the positions in ASM. The SSFC chair has an expectation of working more, and after discussing with SJ members about hours they work, this ties into the workload they are doing,” Williams said.
The motion was passed for the addition, and Williams went on to propose more changes to the stipends of SJ.
The vice chief justice position was decreased by $200 to $2,800. Student Elections commission chair was decreased by $1,000 to $4,300, and SEC vice chair was decreased by $850 to $2,150.
“This sparked some debate, but it was based off research done by Manes into the SEC chair positions. He worked out the hours they work; they are significantly heightened during times of election,” Williams said. “There’s a great differential between how the chair works in this committee and in other committees.”
Williams said they calculated the stipends for these positions as a paid position instead of tying them to a percentage of tuition.
“I respect the decision of the Student Services Finance Committee. I respect the process and the service they provide,” Chief Justice of Student Judiciary Trenell Darby said. “However, I respectfully disagree with the decision they made, especially for the officers of my committee.”
He added he feels the rationale behind the decision was misguided, and he hopes to speak with Student Council members to make changes within the stipends.
The SJ budget was approved at $47,070 for the 2010-11 fiscal year in a vote of 8-0-3, a decrease from their requested $52,700.
SACGB’s budget was approved at $356,067, the same as they requested.
Both budgets will appear before Student Council next semester for approval.
