Election season is here again at St. Thomas University and talk of platforms and passions are ringing through the air.
For many, it’s the desire to make a difference in the lives of fellow students that encourages them to campaign for executive positions or otherwise, but what about the money? Do they even know there’s a paycheck involved? Vice-president education Sam Titus said this isn’t really the point for most people.
“I don’t think the pay entices people to run for exec positions,” he said.
Titus and vice-president administration Philippe Ferland broke down the numbers:
The St. Thomas University Students’ Union’s budget is divided into separate salaries during the summer and during the school year.
During the summer, the budget for executive salaries, which accounts for 80 hours per week split between three to four positions, is $13,300. This term begins on May 1, or the Monday that follows if the 1st is a weekend, and goes until Welcome Week.
The STUSU president works 40 hours per week at minimum wage, which is currently $10.65 and set to raise to $11 in April.
STUSU’s budget only has the money to pay for 40 hours of work per week among two of its three vice-presidents during the summer months. It is up to the vice-presidents to determine who gets those hours. Titus said they typically go to the vice-president education and the vice-president student life due to the nature of their work during the summer. Thus, each of the two vice-presidents works 20 hours per week at minimum wage.
During the school year, the president makes $9,000 paid in biweekly cheques. That breaks down to $9.37 per hour for the 30-hour week the president is required to work. In addition, the president recieves a STUSU bursary from the university equalling the total amount of tuition for that year, which is currently $6,276. If the president is an international student, the amount of a domestic student’s tuition is removed, leaving them with a bill of $7,471 instead of the regular $13,747.
Vice-presidents make $5,000 and must work 15 hours per week during the school year. This breaks down to $10.41 per hour at best. Each of the vice-presidents also get five-sixths, or 83 per cent, taken off tuition via a STUSU bursary from the university. This leaves them with a tuition cost of only $1,066.92.
Ferland said these numbers have remained steady over the years.
Meals during conferences, hosting guests and travel expenses are among other ancillary fees not covered in these salaries and often come out of personal pockets. Titus said the amount of work required often exceeds the pay as well.
He said when he first got involved with STUSU, he wasn’t aware of the bursary.
“I knew that there was a paid portion to it, I did not know about the bursary with the school,” said Titus.
“But I did know that there was a salary involved with the job, but that was mostly because I was on council for two years before I was an exec … But the pay is fairly small so it didn’t really influence my decision to run.”
Titus said the provided salaries are not intentionally hidden from students, but the bursaries tend to get buried because they don’t come out of STUSU’s own budget.
“The pay is really not that much … Every paycheck is just shy of $300 so we’re making roughly $600 a month,” Titus said.
“The job almost necessarily requires a second job.”
Haley Coburn is one of many students who told The Aquinian they were unaware of the money provided to STUSU’s executive members.
“I honestly had no clue that they were paid positions but I do think that it makes sense,” said Coburn, a third-year political science student.
“They work hard for the students while still managing a full course load.”
Coburn said she could foresee knowledge of the salaries enticing students to get more involved.
“Woah, I didn’t know that either,” she said about the tuition bursary.
“It’s definitely something to think about, makes all the effort worth it especially if it is something you’re really passionate about.”
