When the Student Association Senate approved the SA budget last spring, they approved a line allowing the executive board of the SA - the president, vice-president and treasurer - to increase their own stipends in order to cover the cost of their tuition.
According to SA President Christian Oliver, the executive board recently voted in favor of enacting the raise. He said once the administration looks over the proposal "to make sure (it's) within SUNY guidelines," the raise will be official.
In addition to the $9,000 per year stipend the three officers already receive, they will receive $3,400 per semester to pay for their tuition. The raise, according to Oliver, will retroactively include tuition they paid last fall.
Oliver said that since the money for the SA's budget - and in turn, the stipends - come primarily from the mandatory students fees all undergraduates pay, the board investigated another way to have their tuition paid for, instead of placing the burden on the students.
"We petitioned the university to waive our tuition," Oliver said. "However, (Dennis Black, vice president for Student Affairs) felt it was a conflict of interest for the university to do so, so they recommended that we go through the SA as a form of salary."
He said he thinks Black found it to be a conflict of interest because as representatives of the student body, the SA and the administration are sometimes at odds with one another.
Neither Jennifer Brace nor Naazli Ahmed could be reached to comment by press time Tuesday.
Black said his denial came more from the fact that the executive board of the SA is not employed by the university, which means the university does not owe them a free ride.
"The university doesn't provide benefits to individuals who are beyond the university," Black said. "These are officers that are beyond the university. They are not part of UB when they are performing those roles. They are part of Student Association."
According to Oliver, the decision was made to include a stipend increase on last year's budget based on two main reasons: first, to ensure the financial security of students who hold the positions in future, and second, to bring SA in line with similar student associations across the nation.
Oliver said that to attract the best candidates for the positions, "We want to make sure these positions are as lucrative as possible, and this is one way of doing that."
Although the $12,400 stipend will have to be approved again when next year's budget is under consideration, Oliver said he would support the stipend when next year's budget is drawn up, in light of the SUNY Trustees's recent proposal to raise tuition and a possible cut to the Tuition Assistance Program.
"If TAP is cut, and tuition is increased, then that really narrows the field of potential candidates for the three offices," Oliver said. "If you can't afford school, then you have to work, then you wouldn't be able to run."
Oliver noted that the mandatory student activity fee, which will fund the stipend increase, is not covered by TAP.
SA Senator Gregory Haynes said he voted in favor of the budget and agreed with the stipend increase. Stipends, he said, allow for a wider pool of candidates to run for SA office.
"I don't think you have to give up that opportunity to both yourself and the student body in general just because you might not be able to afford it," Haynes said.
Toullouse Lebron, a recent transfer student and electrical engineering major, said that to a certain extent, he agrees with the executive board's reasoning behind the stipend increase, but not completely.
Lebron said the higher stipend would probably only help convince somebody to run for SA office if they are already considering doing it. "But then again," he said, "if you really want to do something good for the school, then I don't think you would be borderline about wanting to fill the position or not."
Oliver said another reason he felt this raise is necessary is because the executive board at UB is paid significantly less than students who fill similar positions at other universities.
The same positions at "other student governments, such as Brockport, make over $15,000 a year in stipend alone," he said. "... Syracuse is in the teens, and some (student government executive boards at other universities) are in the 20 and 30 thousands."
However, Andrew Thomson, president of the Student Association at Syracuse University - a private university - said the most he can receive in a given year is $4,000. He said he does not receive any other bonuses or perks, such as a tuition waiver or free housing.
According to Thomson, in Syracuse, the only way increase the stipend the SA president and comptroller receive is an amendment made to the government's by-laws.
Vince Felder, president of SUNY Brockport's Student Government, said he receives an annual stipend of $15,000, while the vice-president and treasurer each receive $11,000 annually.
Oliver also said that he is also trying to bring the executive board up to par with the benefits that graduate assistants at UB receive. He said graduate assistants typically work 20-hour work weeks, while the executive board members work between 40 and 50 hours a week.
"We compared our (work) ... to the work that a graduate assistant does, in that they get their tuition waived and they're paid a stipend of $9,200 a year," Oliver said.
According to Oliver, if he were in this job for the money, he would "be better off working at Burger King."
One of the aspects of the raise that Oliver said was "unfortunate" was that since the board was, in essence, voting for its own raise, it might come off as a bit "shady."
"It's a tough situation because it involves us making a decision that personally affects us," he said. "But that's why we're elected to these positions; to make these tough decisions."
Allyson Earreon, a senior anthropology major, said there might be a conflict of interest in the fact that they voted for their own raise.
"If someone else were to suggest it, then maybe," Earreon said. "But if they're going to do it themselves, that's ... a waste of money."
Black said he is interested in seeing how the students respond to this increase.
"It's up to the students to decide what they think about their student officers having their tuitions paid for by mandatory student fees," Black said. "I don't know what the climate for that will be. I think it will be an interesting question."
