ASUP Exec. Board: High pay, close competition

By Kate Stringer, Staff Writer stringer14@up.edu

ASUP elections are coming up on March 26 - 27, and this year there are 18 candidates in the running for some of the highest paid jobs on campus.

The ASUP executive board, which includes the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and CPB director, receive a yearly stipend of $6,000 each.

Last year, most candidates ran unopposed, and the student voter turnout rate was 30.5 percent, the lowest it's been since 2007.

But this year, six different tickets, which include candidate pairs for vice president and president, are running. Two candidates are running for secretary and three for treasurer. The candidate for CPB director is running unopposed.

With six different candidate pairs running for president and vice president, Assitant Director of Student Activities Jeromy Koffler says getting a general majority will be difficult. The elections committee, run by ASUP Secretary Julia Balistreri, will hold a run-off election April 2-3 if necessary.

To be eligible to run for an executive board position, all candidates must have at least a 2.5 GPA and be a full-time student. No candidates can be on academic or university probation at the time of election or during their term.

The stipend amount of $6,000 has remained fairly constant, increasing by about $500 since 2003, according to Koffler.

ASUP executive board members are required to work 15 hours per week, with 10 office hours, a two and a half hour senate meeting, an executive board meeting and an individual advisory meetings.

Koffler thinks the ASUP stipends are well earned and comparable to other student positions, such as resident assistants and student media editors.

"These are five student leaders who work very hard to meet the needs of the student body. There's a lot of responsibility and a lot of leadership required from each of these positions," Koffler said.

 

President

ASUP President Brock Vasconcellos on his role in the student body: "Really, it's to take all of [the roles of executive board] and translate it to the administration, and then take what [the administration] is saying and make it translate to us."

Roles

- The President is a non-voting member of Senate but can veto legislation passed by the Senate

- Gives two State of the Campus addresses every year

- Meets with the director of Student Activities and the vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Life once a month

- Meets with other UP vice presidents twice a semester

- Meets with the Board of Regents and other administrators as needed

 

Vice President

Vice President Kyle Hamm on on his role: "If senators need someone more representative of the entire student body, someone higher up on ASUP's food chain so to speak to meet with important administrators, I'll set up a meeting."

Roles

- Runs ASUP Senate meetings

- Meets with senators to work on resolutions or policy issues

- Assigns senators to committees

- ASUP representative at Academic Senate

- Candidates for Vice President must have completed three semesters at UP or other institution and must have served on senate for ten weeks before election.

 

Secretary

Secretary Julia Balistreri on the importance of ASUP: "There's a lot of apathy from students towards student government. We do get stuff done, we do listen, we do our best to push for changes even if they take long."

Roles

- Serves as liason and supervisor for Advantage

- Takes minutes of Senate and Executive board meetings

- Makes agendas

- Serves as chairperson for the elections committee

- Updates ASUP portal and manages ASUP's social media.

- The secretary must have completed at least one semester at UP.

 

CPB Director

CPB Director Sean Ducey on the challenges of his role: "The hardest event to plan is Rock the Bluff. I didn't have any training to plan a concert, so it's a lot of self-teaching."

Roles

- Creates and implements plan of student activities for year

- Meets with and chairs Campus Program Board

- The CPB director must have completed at least one semester at UP by election

 

Treasurer

Treasurer Caitlin Chu on her role: "The importance of treasurer is making sure clubs have the opportunity to do what they want to do and give them that funding for them to reach all walks of life and bring enrichment to campus life in general."

Roles

- Facilitates distribution of funds for clubs

- Interviews club members about budget requests

- Issues reimbursements for clubs that spend money

- Chairs the finance committee

- Meets with a representative of the University Office of Controller.

- Completed one semester at UP by election time and must have taken and passed a 200-level accounting class

 

ASUP stipends in comparison

Gonzaga: (GSBA)

President: $3,600 per year, works 12-24 hours a week

Other executive members: $3,600 per year, work 10-20 hours a week

Cabinet members: $3,200 per year, work eight hours a week

Executive staff: $2000 per year, work eight hours a week

Election committee members: $800 per year, work 8 eight hours a week

Activities board coordinator: $2400 per year

Source: David Lindsay, director of student activities at Gonzaga University

Loyola Marymount University: (ASLMU)

President: $10,000 per year, works minimum of 11 hours per week

Vice president, attorney general, treasurer, speaker of the senate: $5,000 per year, work minimum of nine hours per week

Program chair, com chair: $5000 per year, work minimum of nine hours per week

Directors: $2000 per year, work minimum of five hours per week

Senators: $1000 per year, work minimum of four hours per week

Election chair, graphic designer, and farmer's market manager: $1000 per year, work minimum of two hours per week

Hours do not include time spent planning and producing events or committee meetings

Source: Alexandra Froehlich, assistant director of student leadership and development at Loyola Marymount University

St Mary's College: (ASSMC)

Executive team members: $3,500 per year, work 10 hours per week

Source: Scott Kier, dean of students at St. Mary's College, California.