The SGA voted unanimously last night to pay future student government presidents a salary and provide them with an expense account.
The Student Government Association president who takes over next fall will be the first to get paid for the job since 2004, a change SGA legislators hope will open up the position to students who otherwise couldn’t afford it.
“I have met a number of students over the years who didn’t run specifically because of financial problems,” SGA President Andrew Friedson said. “This is in the best interest of the student body.”
The money for the salary will come from student activities fees and will be contingent on the president fulfilling certain duties.
SGA Speaker of the Legislature Nick Chamberlain, who authored the two separate bills, said a committee including the SGA Inspector General and the members of the Constitution and By-Laws Committee will decide how much salary the president has earned.
“If you only do 70 percent of the work,” he said, “you only get 70 percent of the pay.”
The bills were amended from their original form to restrict access to the expense account and to cap the salary at the current in-state tuition rate.
The expense account would be subject to evaluation by elected officials from the executive and legislative branches, as well as the inspector general, who has the least affiliation with either branch. The president will submit expenses to the committee, which will decide on reimbursements.
The SGA voted in 2004 to stop paying its presidents. Former SGA President Aaron Krause argued at the time that the position should be strictly volunteer.
But Friedson and others in the SGA maintain that the salary opens the position to more students.
Chamberlain said that by passing the bills last night, the SGA has leveled the playing field for all future president-hopefuls.
“It really opens up the process,” he said. “Not only is it the highest office, but it is the only full-time position in the SGA.”
Friedson, in his appeal to the legislative body, pointed out that many other schools around the country have stipends in place for their SGA presidents.
“This is not unique,” he said. “It happens everywhere else.”
He pointed out that the proposed amount is significantly less than what presidents at other institutions make, despite a more demanding job and larger constituency.
“The SGA President at Towson receives $12,000 out of student activities fees every year,” he said, “and her job is easier than my job.”
Chamberlain said salary will remain limited to the president and will not be extend to legislators or cabinet members in the future.
langdbk@gmail.com
