Natalie Delgadillo: Stipend increase would ensure fairer compensation for USAC members

Last year, around the time she was presented with the opportunity to run for undergraduate student government, Savannah Badalich’s family began experiencing financial trouble.

After speaking with her family, she made the decision to run for Student Wellness commissioner anyway. But her father said they would still need her financial contribution despite the new and time-consuming responsibility of being a council member, Badalich said.

In the coming year, Badalich will be working as a learning center consultant for the Office of Residential Life and as a nanny, in addition to her role as a council member. Council member responsibilites can easily take up 30-40 hours a week, Badalich said, including time spent at Tuesday night meetings, committee meetings and planning for programs.

Badalich and future council members’ financial pressures might be eased if the Undergraduate Students Association Council adopts a plan to increase student government stipends that was discussed at the July 15 USAC meeting.

If the council votes on the increase, it will go into effect this year. Currently, the stipend for council members is a flat rate of $355 per month.

Increasing compensation for members of student government would also mean that more students will find themselves financially capable of running for council positions, ensuring that we do not restrict the opportunity to serve on council to those who can afford to forgo the hours of paid work.

The plan presented at last week’s meeting by UCLA Student Union Director Roy Champawat and Student Government Services Manager Patricia Zimmerman would completely change the way the council and other positions funded by USAC are compensated, paying them minimum wage for a reasonable estimation of the number of hours they work instead of the flat rate of $355 per month.

Champawat
proposed three different plans to council: One is based on a 20-hour work week, the other on a 15-hour work week, and the third on an 11.5-hour work week, all at the California minimum wage of $8 an hour. The plan that is based on a
20-hour work week most closely resembles the hours that the council puts in. The council would do well to adopt that plan if the proposal comes to a vote.

For students who need to work in order to keep up with the rising costs of attending the university, the time commitment of being a council member simply isn’t feasible.

The proposal is based on a system of hourly pay, which is the way other California public universities compensate their student governments. UC Irvine, for example, pays its student government for 16 hours per week at the rate of $9 per hour.

USAC President John Joanino has expressed reservations about increasing stipends for fear that it will take away from student group funding.

But in all of the plans presented July 15, the money for the increase would come from two funds: the Student Government Operational Fund and the Student Organizations Operational Fund.

While student groups might feel the reduction in these funds, programming would be unaffected because these funds pay for operational needs like office supplies, as well as funds for advertising and retreats.

Moreover, the effect on student groups would be eased by the historically large surplus in both of these funds, as well as the fact that both have received an influx of funds due to increased enrollment for this year.

Trading some historically underused funds for increased access to student government positions simply makes sense. The additional benefit of ensuring that our current council members are fairly compensated and can allocate more time to their positions and less to other jobs makes the trade-off even better.

If the stipend increase passes, Badalich might be able to quit one of her jobs, which will not only take some pressure off of her, but also give her more time to devote to the Student Wellness Commission.

“If the community is against this and they don’t want it, then I’m okay with that,” she said. “But this is a way for me not to spend so much time trying to pay rent.”