Student Senate approved a $2,100 budget increase in early October, and Student Body Treasurer Owen Irwin said the increase will primarily be for student body officer stipends.
About $4,400 will go toward student body officer stipends this year, according to the Student Senate Operating Budget for 2008-09. This amount will be divided between both semesters.
Student Body President Jordan Ticaric said the stipends are intended to repay officers for campaign costs. Officers receive their stipends as paychecks every two weeks.
The Student Body President will receive a stipend of $825 per semester, according to the Senate budget. Vice-President will receive $650 in the fall and $400 in the spring. Both the positions of secretary and treasurer will receive $550 stipends in the fall and $300 stipends in the spring.
Of these amounts, $250 is in QuickCash for the three positions under the president, and $500 is in QuickCash for the president.
The stipends and Senate’s budget are funded by the university and not the student activity fee, Ticaric said.
She said the stipends are perks for the officers because of their positions on campus.
Ticaric went to a conference with student government officers from other schools and she said Bradley’s officer compensation was lacking compared to other universities.
Perks for student body officers at other schools around the country include cars for officers, clothing budgets, business cell phones and tuition reimbursements, Ticaric said.
More than 71 percent of schools in the country offer some sort of compensation to student body officers, according to the American Student Government Association.
For example, Eastern Illinois University’s executive officers receive compensation for 12 credit hours.
And a little more than 57 percent of private colleges and universities pay officers stipends.
At Marquette University, a private university in Wisconsin, the student body president receives full tuition scholarship plus a stipend of $2,300 a semester paid bi-weekly, according to studentleaders.com.
“It’s a very prestigious position to be elected by students to represent the school,” Ticaric said. “These are just some of the perks that come with that.”
Ticaric said she’s approached the idea of creating stipends for other major organizations on campus as well.
“There are organization [leaders] on campus that spend a huge part of their time devoted to the organization and the university,” she said.
