By Aleksandra Sidorova
The Student Association Executive Council discussed the implementation of an official compensation policy Monday, Feb. 13.
SA Vice President Saran Kaba drafted a policy requiring SA members to host a fixed number of office hours weekly: five hours a week for Executive Council officials and three hours a week for senators. Unexcused absences for three office days and three meetings will result in “no compensation.”
Additionally, the Executive Council discussed denying members compensation if they do not “consistently” submit required weekly reports. However, SA does not yet have a clear definition of “consistently.”
SA President Taiba Azeem said SA members get paid “very little”: a stipend of $300 per semester for Senate members and up to $900 per semester for Executive Council members — paid in installments at the middle and end of the semester.
SA has never had an official compensation policy in its history, SA Adviser Jacob Avery said. The policies currently serving as SA member compensation guidelines do not require members to submit weekly reports and are primarily based on meeting attendance.
Azeem and Kaba have both stated intentions of enforcing SA members’ work ethic since October, 2022.
“You made a commitment to show up to these office hours, and if you do not show up, you won’t be getting paid,” Kaba said at an SA Senate meeting Oct. 21, 2022.
