Money may not buy happiness, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt the 23 student leaders who could receive partial help with their tuition and book costs next year.

SGA President Andrew Clifton and Dean of Students Scott Smith presented a proposal to amend the current student-leader stipend situation at the Feb. 27 SGA meeting. If approved, the new system would be a significant increase in the amount of money allocated to student leaders in years past; last year, $67,500 was distributed between 13 students. The new proposal dictates that $95,600 be split between 23 students, who will receive different amounts of money depending on the category of honorarium they are awarded.

As it currently stands, certain student leaders are given stipends based on a complex mathematical equation that assigns different stipend values to the chosen students. As a result of a growing number of student leaders receiving stipends versus a stagnant amount of money to draw the funding from, stipend amounts can be unpredictable and, in many cases, have shrunk each year since the current system was enacted two years ago.

“We were consistently running into issues with this on a yearly basis,” Clifton said. “This [proposal] is trying to make it a fair and simpler process.”

The new system would award 23 student leaders
“honoraria” of varying values. The number of awards each year would remain unchanged, but which student leader receives which award could change from year to year, with one exception: The SGA president will receive a full tuition scholarship each year. If passed, the new honoraria guidelines dictate that the most senior student leader in each SLU organization would apply for an honorarium. The applications would then be reviewed by a panel of three faculty members, three staff members and four students selected by the dean of students and the SGA president.

Applicants would then be reviewed based on how much of an impression their organizations are liable to have on campus, how much of an impact each applicant could have on his or her organization and how much the organization complies with and builds on the Jesuit Catholic mission, according to the proposal. The award amount can also be adjusted based on the applicant’s financial need.

“We were trying to expand the net . to be more inclusive about who can apply,” Smith said.

The proposed system will be further discussed at SGA’s meeting on Wednesday, March 5.

Also in Wednesday’s meeting:

 The Senate unanimously passed a resolution amending the bylaws to insure that the SGA examines the “financial standing” of the student activity fee each year.

 Senators also chartered the Club Softball team.