Future student leaders across campus continued to hold their breath this week as the conversation regarding the new honoraria proposal carried over into the Wednesday, March 5, Student Government Association meeting. The honoraria are monetary rewards that would help an organization’s most senior level student leader offset their tuition and room and board costs.
Under the currently unapproved honoraria plans, applications would be available between March 15 and March 21, and could be turned in through April 9, said Dean of Students Scott Smith. Senators had a chance to present concerns and suggestions for the proposal and to review rough drafts of the applications for the honoraria at the Wednesday, March 5 meeting.
The application currently consists of two forms: one is for the organization’s adviser and one is for the student applying for the honorarium. The adviser form asks him or her to rank things like the impact of the organization, how many hours the student contributes and how important his or her work is to the success of the organization.
The student form includes a number of short essay questions which ask about the mission of the student’s organization, what makes it unique, future goals and past successes of the organization, among other questions.
One issue raised was that the student application didn’t ask enough questions about the students themselves, but instead focused too much on the organization, meaning the honorarium could be awarded “without any students applying,” said Ben Corrado, Grand Forest senator.
Law School Senator Tyson Mutrux asked if there would be an appeals process for students who were unhappy with the result; Smith said that “there always would be a place for students to go,” and that he would look into defining what that would be, specifically.
Meanwhile, School of Public Service Senator Kevin Grillot asked about the possibility of including a third form to be filled out by another member of the organization, which would provide another perspective of the student in question, he said.
After feedback from the meetings is gathered, a final proposal is due to be voted on in the March 12 SGA meeting.
Students who have objections or suggestions for the honoraria are encouraged to e-mail their senator(s)-the list of which can be found on SGA’s website, www.sga.slu.edu-before the next SGA meeting.
Also in Wednesday’s meeting:
Amnesty International was allocated $500 in spot-funding to cover the group’s event master of ceremonies’ stipend.
Rainbow Alliance was allocated $597 to pay for the costs of bringing a speaker to SLU later this month.
The Senate passed a resolution encouraging the University administration to consider the possibility of creating a station for the TechIntern program in the BSC, to make computer repair for students more convenient. The program is currently located solely in Des Peres Hall.
SLU: Teach was officially chartered by the Senate. The new CSO intends to provide an outlet for education majors to gain real world experience.
