Chambers: Student salaries need second look
Senators’ salaries unbalanced with other undergraduate positions
Under current University policy, the president, vice-president, treasurer and legislative director of the undergraduate Senate and the treasurer, an legislative director of the undergraduate Senate and the treasurer receive a discount on tuition.
By Francesca Chambers (Contact)
Friday, September 14th, 2007
Many of you already read today’s news article about the University’s decision to give certain members of the student senate hierarchy so-called “free tuition,” so I will spare you most of the details.
Under current University policy, the president, vice-president, treasurer and legislative director of the undergraduate Senate and the treasurer, communications and finance executives of the graduate Senate do not get paid.
The only compensation they receive for their work—besides getting into almost any graduate school or job that they want after college—is the benefit of paying “staff fees,” which are slightly less than “resident tuition.” Therefore, those students who live in-state are not really receiving a benefit at all.
I get it that these students do a lot for the University and deserve to be compensated. But $2,922 each semester seems a bit overboard. When I calculated the amount they will be receiving if money were paid out each week like a real job, (subtracting finals week, the weeks of Fall break and Thanksgiving break and including the week before Hawk Week), these students will be receiving $230 a week, or $15 an hour for 15 hours a week.
Lynn Bretz, Director of University Communications, said the reason these students deserve such a large sum of money is because of the amount of time and effort their jobs take. She also said that it is a common practice for universities to provide benefits to students who take on large responsibilities, whether that is an hourly rate or some other means of compensation.
When I asked her if the University had thought about applying this policy to other highly involved individuals in student organizations, she said that she doubted any other student group spent comparable amounts of time helping the University and that they would have a hard case to make if they thought they did.
I can’t speak for other organizations, but I know for a fact that the editors of the Kansan put in a comparable amount of work and time to that of the student senate hierarchy—and worse hours too. We get paid hourly, but it’s half the amount as they will receive; we get paid University minimum wage just like everyone else.
I’ve heard the argument that if it were not for Student Senate, we would not have students representing our voice to the University. If it was not for the Kansan no one would know what Student Senate was up to, which personally makes me uncomfortable.
Here’s an idea. What if we stopped producing the Kansan just because we felt like it (considering we’re so expendable)? I know some smart-alecks out there would not care, and others would miss only Free For All and the entertainment page, but most reasonable students understand what a tragedy it would be if there was no one to alert them of activities and changes in policies around campus.
I’m not trying to petition for more money or toot my own horn. I’m just trying to point out that there are other organizations that bring as much to the table as Student Senate and are not reaping such enormous benefits, and the only way I know how to prove that is through the only organization I am a part of, the Kansan.
In addition, I would like to say that there are other members of the Student Senate hierarchy who would not be affected by this revision who put in just as much time and work as those being affected, which is not fair either.
Another Kansan staff member also pointed out to me that she would hope that these students are already on merit-based scholarships that provide these benefits. True. One can only hope the students making all the decisions that affect us are smart enough to receive scholarships. One can only hope.
My suggestion is simply that these Student Senate members be treated the same way that the rest of us who work for the University are treated. They should only receive the University minimum wage for their time, which can be feasibly estimated considering it is at the Kansan and it seems to work out just fine for us.
Chambers is a Paola sophomore in journalism and political science. She is Kansan special sections and correspondent editor.
Discussion
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Lynn Bretz, Director of Communications at the University of Kansas said, "she doubted any other student group spent comparable amounts of time helping the University [. . .]"
Wow Lynn. . . I'm glad so many students put in all that time at the SILC, being a GTA, or working a student job, etc. I guess the University thinks that unless you are in "The Hierarchy," you don't spend enough time helping the university.
I have news for you Lynn. . . There are thousands of students/ student groups that put in significant amounts of time participating in several entities on campus. Some students receive no pay, not even minimum wage!
I really hope you rethink you stance regarding student involvement on campus.
It's really kind of stupid to get fired up over the University offering 7 scholarships to some of the hardest working students on campus. The University offers lots of scholarships for lots of different things, including Journalism. And to top it off, the student body gets to decide who receives these scholarships.
I know sometimes you just have to write "something," but next time try and make it something worthwhile.
this article was thoughtful and well-written. i really didn't like the fact that these people are getting so much money for doing something that is already beneficial to them. i am sure they put a lot of time and effort into this, but as the author mentioned, they get certain perks when it shows up on their resume...and if they are so passionate about ku and "making a difference" (yes, i heard that so many times during campaign season) shouldn't being able to serve be enough compensation? I think the previous policy was more than adequate. and the author is correct: without the UDK, i would have no way of knowing what new fees the student senate decided to add for next year.
Why does the university offer free room and board to RAs? Consider how many RA's there are and how much room and board is at one of the big dorms. About doublish what Senate Exec gets? I see that you calculated how much money they got per week. But then take into account the opportunity loss. The time they spend working for senate, is time they could be using to focus on academics to keep scholarships. These scholarships help student leaders put more time into their positions and more ease on their academics. Finally you said that there are other worthy organizations on campus; I agree. But the fact is, Student Senate is greatly responsible for the existence of the 500+ organizations registered in the SILC office. Also keep in mind, "we" are not paying for these "scholarships." This money comes from Student Success, which comes from the University. It is seperate from the student fees that we pay; the money that Senate oversees.
To people who think senate is a bunch of bull, I see where you come from. I have served in committees for two years now (committees are open to all students; all students can vote in committees) and I have seen my fair share of senseless banter. But Senate DOES make a difference; Watkins, safebus, newish buses, these are all things that were accomplished by Student Senate. Ok, we could also have the University take care of all these things, but then we would have to pay the University more money. University employees need benefits, raises, etc, in otherwords, expensive. I think an increase in tuition to cover such costs would be way more than the 300ish we pay for student fees.
As somebody who used to work for Student Senate, I can easily say that while you might only get paid for 15-20 hours a week, you're easily there 40+ in addition to the hours spent in meetings, committees, and Topeka working your ass off to protect students' interests. All the while, you know that the vast majority of the student body will never know what you've done to help them, and that articles like these are what most students think. But you do it anyway, because that's how it works, and that's just life.
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