The committee that allocates money to student groups cut the number of paid positions some groups can receive as part of a massive overhaul of the stipend model it approved on Monday to address its budgetary woes.
As part of the Programs Finance Committee’s last-minute effort to rectify overspending its budget by 1.9 percent, the stipend changes will eliminate a 2.25 percent payroll assessment by replacing payroll stipends with scholarships, saving an estimated $7,000 in the budget.
The changes establish a scale for how much money a group must spend to qualify for paid positions and alter the amount some group leaders will be paid.
The PFC is also using the ASUO Executive’s budget recommendations to determine how much to give most groups, but will use its own recommendations for contract groups, such as the Oregon Daily Emerald, and departments, such as the Student Recreation Center.
Committee members won’t know until Thursday if the recommendations will bring the committee’s budget below the 7 percent maximum increase it’s allowed by Green Tape Notebook rules. The PFC must submit its budget by March 7 in order for the Student Senate to vote on it during its March 9 meeting.
Under the old stipend model, group leaders and elected members of the student government received stipends based on the number of hours they worked and the level of responsibility
required by their positions. The new model establishes three categories, giving top-level government leaders $200 a week, lower-ranking government leaders $175 a week, and group leaders and some government members $150 a week. The model raises pay for some positions and lowers it for others, ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert said.
PFC member Michael Sherman said the stipend could no longer be based on hours worked, although he wasn’t sure what rule the hours-worked criteria violated.
The changes also establish the minimum amount of money groups must spend on programming to receive paid positions. Groups that spend $3,000 to $5,999 can receive a maximum of one director, $6,000 to $9,999 a maximum of two, $10,000 to $19,999 a maximum of three and $20,000 and above a maximum of four, with the PFC’s discretion on certain budgets.
Some groups, like the ASUO Women’s Center, have as many as nine directors and a programming budget of only about $22,000.
Although the new system eliminates stipend positions for group treasurers, vice presidents and other leaders, people can now perform those duties under the title of director up to the maximum number of
directors a group can have.
Creighton-Neiwert previously said about $289,000 of the PFC budget goes toward stipends.
University President Dave Frohnmayer prompted the initial stipend changes this summer when he noted some groups received more money for stipends than programming.
Sherman said he favored the
new model.
“I think it really gets at the heart of volunteerism in (student groups),” he said.
PFC Chairwoman Persis Pohowalla said Monday that rising health care costs have created some of the spending problems.
Creighton-Neiwert said her calculations of health care cost increases may be slightly inaccurate because she hasn’t been able to meet with every group.
“I could have easily missed something,” she said. “You get the sense that this is a ballpark figure.”
PFC member Khanh Le said he was concerned that paying leaders in the form of a scholarship might affect students’ financial aid packages.
But Creighton-Neiwert said scholarships will not affect the overall amount of aid a student receives.
The PFC previously considered several methods to reduce its spending, including giving every group a 2 percent decrease and approving the executive recommendation for all groups.
The PFC process has been delayed by injunctions placed against three of its members and other difficulties, causing the Senate to extend the committee’s deadline until Monday.

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