MSA bill will make SFRC chairperson a paid position

Payment will be used as incentive for a job well done.

By Zach Toombs

Published Feb. 12, 2009

The Missouri Students Association Senate passed a bill Wednesday night to provide the Student Fee Review Committee chairperson with an annual stipend.

SFRC provides advice to MSA and the Graduate Professional Council regarding the use of mandatory non-academic fees for both undergraduates and graduates. The chairperson oversees the actions of the committee and trains the next chairperson before leaving office.

"A monetary incentive is key because the SFRC chair is such an important position," MSA Senate Speaker Jonathan Mays said. "If things aren't handled correctly, it can cost students tens of thousands of dollars and put MSA and GPC in a very bad position. The position has shown that it's worth a small investment."

Instead of receiving a regular salary, the SFRC chair will receive the entire stipend after their term has been completed. Mays said the pay was "all or nothing" because the position is an "all or nothing job."

"I really like that it's a lump sum after they've completed their job, because it makes the stipend incentive-based," MSA Senator Dan Kelley said.

Although MSA passed the bill, it won't go into effect until GPC votes on the proposal at its general assembly on March 3.

"I brought the bill to MSA because we already had the go ahead from the GPC Executive Board that they would be voting on it during the next meeting," Mays said. "We'd waited long enough to bring it to the floor."

The stipend will be $870 in Fiscal Year 2009 and $942 in Fiscal Year 2010 and will be split equally between MSA and GPC, costing each organization $906 for the fall and spring semesters combined.

"The cost is being split between MSA and GPC because SFRC works with both of us," Mays said. "We've had both graduates and undergraduates in the position of chair before."

Former MSA Vice President Chelsea Johnson said former President Jim Kelley and she first began discussing the idea of providing a salary or stipend to the SFRC chair last semester.

"The idea was brought up because in the past we've had chairs who've stepped down because of other things they were committed to and didn't finish their term," Johnson said. "We just want to make sure the chair fulfills their duties."

Mays, who has less than a month of his term as Senate speaker left, said this was something he wanted to make sure got done before he left MSA.

"This is not something I want to leave for my successor to do," Mays said.

The proposal to provide the SFRC chairperson with a stipend wasn't the only bill to add to MSA's payroll on the table for the Senate on Wednesday.

"I know it's kind of bad timing since we have the new second chief of staff position and its salary to talk about as well, but I think this is important enough to go through with anyway," Mays said. "A lot of damage can be done if this position isn't handled correctly."

Mays said the current SFRC chairperson will be eligible for the annual stipend if the GPC approves the proposal and if the rest of the chairperson's duties, including forwarding final student recommendations to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs and training the next SFRC chairperson, are fulfilled.