After a drawn-out meeting that dealt with a number of potential resolutions, the ASUO Senate partially finished the work that its stipend model committee began by approving increases for the stipends of Executive staff members and heads of student programs.
After being asked by the Senate to consider alternatives to the model proposed at last week’s meeting, the committee came back with a model that abolished the designations of “program director” and “program coordinator” that currently determine the amount of stipend funds paid to programs. Instead, all programs will have their stipends issued in a lump sum, to be distributed among its members as the group sees fit.
“We wanted to accurately represent what is actually going on and then cap their pay,” committee member Sen. Lamar Wise said. A cap was not specifically mentioned at tonight’s meeting, but had been previously discussed as a way to prevent one group member from collecting a group’s entire stipend.
In addition to revising the structure under which stipends are paid, all programs received an increase in their stipend amounts. The smallest stipend-eligible programs will receive an additional $100 per month, with the top class receiving an additional $175 per month. Thus, the smallest stipend-eligible programs will now receive a total of $275 a month for stipends, while the largest programs in the stipend class structure will receive a total of $725 in stipend funds.
Large programs, such as the Multicultural Center and the Women’s Center, are “exempt” programs that receive stipends outside of the stipend class system.
These increases will, according to calculations provided by Freshman Rep. Andrew Lubash, add $93,852 to next year’s incidental fee.
Some senators were concerned about this amount, particularly in light of the significant funding increases that many programs are expected to request.
“I think there needs to be an increase; however, I don’t think its OK any year to break our cap,” Sen. Laura Hinman said.
“This would fit — this is within our budget,” Sen. Jeremy Hedlund replied.
The Senate also approved a stipend increase for all members of the Executive staff. The president and vice president will receive an additional $50 per month while the chief of staff will get an additional $125 per month and become a 12-month position, instead of the current nine-month position. Three 12-month and 15 nine-month executive staff members will also receive an additional $100 per month. The total cost of these increases was forecast by Lubash to be $19,800.
“Executive staff needs increases just as much as programs,” committee member and ASUO Events Coordinator Colleen Soles said.
The Senate also considered potential resolutions relating to the Occupy Eugene protests and the University’s designation of resident assistants in University Housing as mandatory reporters of sexual assaults.
There were ethical and procedural concerns about the Senate addressing a political issue like the Occupy Eugene protest.
“I don’t think ASUO should be supporting a political group because it’s against our mission statement,” Hinman said.
“We should be supporting students who want to be part of movements like this,” Sen. Molly Bacon countered.
Votes to form working groups to create draft resolutions for both issues were tied. ASUO Vice President Katie Taylor cast the deciding vote in favor of creating both working groups. They will present their work to the Senate next week.
Earlier in the meeting, Matthew Miyamoto was confirmed to an at-large seat on the Department Finance Committee.