ASWC budget uncovered

Students react to approved ASWC budget, numbers posted

By: Walter Denison

Posted: 4/28/09

Seven ASWC Executive Cabinet members stand to make a collective $41,450.

Hans Romo, Arts and Humanities student Senator, recently posted numbers detailing Executive Cabinet and club/organization budgets for the 2009-2010 school year. The information was made available on social networking website Facebook. Figures were posted April 4 and have drawn intense interest.
Clubs and organizations at Westminster initially requested $48,055 in funding from ASWC, but will receive only 41 percent of that figure, $19,650. However, the Executive Cabinet will receive 93.5 percent of the $44,350 they initially request.

Executive Cabinet stipends will increase 10.8 percent next year. However, clubs and organizations will take a 24 percent budget cut. The 2008-2009 club and organization budget was $25,960. The new budget averages out to be $614.06 per club.

In order for ASWC to recognize a club, it must have five active members. With 32 active clubs, there are no less than 160 people involved in a club or organization on campus. Each student in a club averages about $122.81 from the collective $19,650 that clubs and organizations will be receiving.

Clubs do have the opportunity to receive more ASWC funding. Stefan van Duyvendijk, ASWC director of budget and finance, said, "it's a really simple process, club leaders just come present their case in a senate meeting, and a vote will determine what happens next."

Brody Leven, student body president, will make 23 percent more than the average dollar amount allotted to clubs and organizations for one year-by working one month.

According to van Duyvendijk, the statistics Romo posted came directly from the ASWC budget committee. "The numbers were sent out to every senator before the senate voted on it," said van Duyvendijk. Senators were given the opportunity to review the numbers before making an in-session decision. Van Duyvendijk said, "The senate took well over an hour voting on these numbers and the budget committee spent more than 10 collective hours coming up with the numbers."

Voices for the budget didn't conform initially, "There was one motion to amend, but it didn't carry," said Romo. "I think people just wanted to get out of there, and knew that amendments could be made later."

Leven will make $800 per month next year, as was the unanimous decision within the committee. He is expected to work 10 months of the academic school year, making a collective $8000.

The 27th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits officers from voting on their own wage. Accordingly, Executive Cabinet members of ASWC are not allowed to vote in senate meetings. The Executive Cabinet, however, was able to propose numbers to the budget committee which they thought would be a fair wage.

Their Stipend-Students' Fees
Ginny-Beth Joiner, director of Student Life, said that Westminster is going to raise student activity fees in order to finance the increase in ASWC stipends. According to Joiner, this is the first time Westminster is raising the fees within the last ten years and, "[the fees are] still a lot cheaper than other schools."

Students attending the University of Utah pay $22.52 to their student government, Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU), assuming 16 credit hours. Total student fees at the University average at $384.36.

Patrick Reimherr, ASUU president, makes $900 per month, according to Elizabeth Peterson, ASUU Finance Director. Reimherr and the rest of the Executive Cabinet at the University also receive tuition reimbursement-something Westminster does not offer.

Fulltime students at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) pay $611.00 in student fees per semester. Fulltime students attending Weber State University pay $361.31 in student fees. Fulltime students attending Southern Utah University pay $261.00 in student fees.

Student activity fees are the fees every student pays alongside tuition every semester. This semester, fees were $45 per fulltime student at Westminster. According to Joiner, semester fees will be $60 for every fulltime student, a collective $120 over the course of a year. Fees go towards supporting clubs and organizations on campus-including ASWC.

Leven said that the main reason for fee increases is because of "the addition of the Activities Coordinator to the Executive Cabinet." The Activities Coordinator is expected to make $175 more per month next semester.

According to Joiner, ASWC receives all the funding from student fees, then allots it to clubs and organizations as they deem necessary. Romo said he posted the budget "to see if students deemed the allotment necessary."

Why Romo Posted
Romo, a Philosophy and Sociology student, posted the ASWC remuneration figures because he was "unsure how to vote on the budget." He said in an email that he "wanted to get feedback from the students to form a genuine opinion on how to vote."

Romo moved to "table" the budget in the senate for one session because "the numbers being what they are, are pretty significant."

"At the end of the day, $255,000," referring to the entire ASWC budget recommendation, "is enough money to take two families of four from absolute poverty in the United States to the top 20 percent of American income…and have $50,000 left over."

The decision to pass the stipends was "a bit rushed," said Romo, but according to the constitution, "Leven is working what's required of him."

ASWC Constitutional Law
According to ASWC Constitution and By-laws, the minimum required work time of Leven is 15 hours of work per week. At this minimum, Leven would receive $13.33 per hour. This would mean that every fulltime student pays Leven approximately $0.29 for one month of service from the student fees. This adds up to roughly $2.95 over the course of ten months. Numbers are based off of 2,707 current enrolled fulltime students. Five percent of each student's student fee goes towards Leven's stipend alone.

According to Leven, both himself, and the Vice President, Adrienne Shaw, work "40 plus" hours per week and are simultaneously fulltime students.

"But, this is not a job where hours can easily be tracked; the hours are ambiguous. Some nights I'm up until two in the morning checking email," said Leven.

Being president is "not a qualitative job," he said, "it's much more quantitative, and the stipends allow us to survive."

At 40 hours of work per week, Leven is making a "meager" $5 per hour.

Adam W. Young, club member and self-proclaimed social activist, said, "If [Leven] wants to work 40 hours a week, that's fine, but those are volunteer hours. Once he works more than the 15 [hours] required of him, he's on his own time."

Leven said, in an email, "Energetic volunteers, who volunteer so much-as demanded by the nature of their position-that they are unable to work another job, need a stipend to survive."

According to the most recent posted ASWC record, Leven has averaged 17.2 hours in the office per week.

"As a student here, I would guess that Brody [Leven] works about 20 hours a week," said Andrew Hopkins, friend of Romo and sophomore in biology. "I don't think students really understand what ASWC does."

What ASWC Does
You could say ASWC is "the government of the country of Westminster," said Leven at the ASWC Senate Meeting on Monday, April 13.

According to the ASWC website, ASWC is responsible for coordinating student activities. For example, dances, lecturers, and the wild Wednesday events.

"We had about one-third the student-body attend the cosmic bowling," said van Duyvendijk. "It took around $5400 to rent Fat Cats out for that single event."

According to the ASWC website, the Executive Cabinet "carries out the decisions of the Senate and represents students to the administration." Some students question whether those actions warrant $41,450 of stipends. Senator Cooper Henderson said, "students are questioning whether it's worth it because there was no dialogue between ASWC and the student body in the decision making process."

Recent Senate Activity
Senators Romo and Henderson passed a bill through the senate Monday April 13.

The "Communication Reform Act" will require that ASWC post what happens at ASWC senate meetings on the Internet. This bill requires that ASWC information be available to students. The bill is a "resolution to address the widening gap between students and ASWC."

According to van Duyvendijk, ASWC information is, and was available to students on the Free Speech board in the Shaw cafeteria. "We just got new letterhead which we have been using to post information," said van Duyvendijk.

The "Communication Reform Act" was met with opposition by Senator Dorothann Dinas. "It's like airing dirty laundry in public for all to see," she said.

"I am ashamed ASWC has something to hide," said former senator Kaitlyn Thomas in response.
The bill, written by Romo and Henderson, was crafted because they want to "ensure that there is more input and discussion from students about the budget-which is student's money," as well as about other ASWC actions.

Romo said one of the goals of ASWC for this year is "more transparency so students can actually see what's happening with their money. But the converse of that is that students are going to have to actively involve themselves."

"I want students to know that I am their voice, I don't care if I get 500 emails a week, I will do my best to read all of them and voice their concerns."

According to the bill, some students view ASWC as a "mere social clique reminiscent of high school organizations."

The act requires that "all proposed legislation must be posted electronically at least 72 hours prior to consideration, or voting by the Senate," for viewing by the student body. The bill requires that retroactive action be taken as well. The ASWC director of Communications is required to post 2009-2010 Senate General Sessions, including the ASWC budget request.

"Failure to exercise these requirements," on behalf of the director of Communications, "will be grounds for impeachment," according to the act. The senators hope to safeguard against another controversy by keeping students informed.

Students React to What ASWC is Doing With
Their Money
"It's important to keep the students informed about where their money is going," said Henderson. "And if students wanted to know, they should have gone to the people who made the budget."

With regards to the surrounding controversy, Romo said, "a lot of students didn't realize the Executive Cabinet was a paid position. And then there are some students who are simply upset about the amount of the stipends-the quantity of the money."

The Executive Cabinet is a salaried position because, "it's supposed to give students from a lower socio-economic background motivation to run," said Romo.

Differing views appear. "ASWC prefers to keep stipend information quiet as to entice candidates who are intrinsically motivated without money," said Young in an email.

Young posted flyers, questioning the ASWC budget, around campus. One flyer, located in the Shaw building read, "Westminster College has 'asked our donors to give even more generously to provide you with scholarships and other forms of aid.' Why is $41,450 of your increased tuition going in the pockets of seven students? Talk to your ASWC Senator about where your money is being spent."

Young is "highly offended that in a time where millions of people are losing their jobs, ASWC is increasing hours and pay while concurrently cutting club funding," he said. "I wasn't aware that ASWC had control over such a large amount of money or that executive positions were paid…that is to say 'receive stipends.'"

"Some students may see the role of the cabinet as being much more service oriented-volunteer work," said Romo. "Some students may be upset because there's just over $19,000 going to clubs and organizations and $41,000 going to the Executive Cabinet." Romo is unsure of where he stands in the debate, "we should have had more time to discuss, and looked more closely at the arguments that were presented."

Romo said, "There are some students that are completely opposed to the idea of the executive officers being paid." Romo wants to hear students' voices, "if we were to do a survey right now and found out that 90 percent of students were uncomfortable with the cabinet getting paid, they wouldn't get paid, but the students have to get involved."

Students got involved at New York University (NYU) in late February. According to CBS news, students were requesting "more transparency on behalf of the college finances."

According to CBS, Students at NYU barricaded themselves into the cafeteria for over 24 hours. Students wanted to know where their tuition and student fees were going. "They want full budget and endowment disclosure, affordable education, and increased student participation in the university's operation," read a CBS news article.

Barricades have not been an issue at Westminster. However, students are reacting to the information posted by Romo.

Allie Cohn, Alphabet Soup club president, said the club was "denied money that would have benefited the campus." Alphabet Soup initially request $4,120. They received 14.5 percent of their request, $600. Cohn questions Leven's living expenses, "how come this year when [Leven] was president, he was able to live off of a $750 stipend per month? Why now for a $50 increase?"

Leven contends, "The stipends allow for all my living expenses, I am financially independent and very dedicated to improving Westminster. I think the 40 hours of work I put into this job serve as a testament to that."

"Where do we see he's working 40 hours a week?" questions Cohn. "If I had to guess, I would say he probably works around 20 hours per week, tops."

Leven said in an email, "receiving a stipend allows for the removal of one thing-another job."

Hopkins said, "If there was more justification by ASWC, students would be a lot happier."

"But, this is not necessarily the institution's fault, there needs to be more active participation on behalf of the students," said Romo.

"The Numbers Can be Changed"
Romo said he "received pressures not to post the information." It was argued that the students "wouldn't have enough information about where the money was going."

"My feeling was that if we don't give them the information, how are they going to be educated enough to make decisions," said Romo.

"To make the claim that the one percent of the world's population who have college degrees are not educated enough to make decisions about the budget, is slightly flawed."

ASWC budget committee members include Stefan van Duyvendijk, Nicole Stockslager, Chase Johnston, Wyatt King, Angela Seghini, Garret Clark, Teri Elliot, Nikola Mijic, Dave Werschky Tyler Sutton and Brittany Wonnacott. Copies of ASWC Constitution and By-laws can be found on ASWC's website, http://westminstercollege.edu/aswc/.

Romo said, "With enough pressure from students, the budget can be amended."