Money was the hot topic on the ASWC Senate’s agenda as they convened for their fifth meeting of the spring semester on Sunday, April 19. Foremost among the issues discussed were details concerning the ’09-’10 ASWC budget and the creation of a fund to augment ASWC officers’ stipends.
ASWC’s total budget for fiscal year 2010 is projected to be close to $485,000. The largest share of the budget will be distributed among ASWC clubs and the new ASWC Programming Board. ASWC’s annual contribution to club sports was also increased from $22,000 to $30,000, in order to make up for cuts in the Whitman’s Club Sports contribution.
Returns from ASWC’s over $250,000 endowment were also earmarked (or purposed) for service learning projects such as Justice Beyond Borders, Whitman Direct Action and the Youth Adventure Program and to sponsor Organic Garden summer interns.
“We’re really excited about the purposing of our endowment, a goal that all of us in the Finance Committee have been working toward since September,” said Finance Chair-Elect for next year first-year Matt Dittrich in an e-mail. “With this development, Whitman’s ’09 ––’10 school year is destined to be pretty tasty, and to have a greater positive impact on the world.”
Perhaps the most significant item of discussion on the agenda was the creation of a fund to augment ASWC officers’ stipends. The stipend pool was created to help supplement the pay given to ASWC employees who qualify for need-based financial aid, so that they may be able to fulfill their work-study requirements without working at another on-campus job.
ASWC President-Elect junior Nadim Damluji explained this development.
“Realistically, it is hard to work an ASWC paid job in addition to another job on campus, and if students are forced to take that route they are seriously compromising their ability to fulfill their duties to ASWC and as a student in college,” said Damluji in an e-mail. “It was created based on an overall frustration placed on students in this situation, and [the ASWC Senate] worked it into the budget for next year pending approval of new bylaws in the last Senate meeting. I wrote those bylaws with Senator Jordan Clark, Student Affairs Chair-Elect, and we made sure they reflected the intent of our mission to create equal opportunity for all ASWC positions.”
The ASWC Finance Committee is scheduled perform a comprehensive three- to five-year review of paid ASWC positions to ensure that the pay reflects the nature of the job.
“Until that comprehensive review is done, we felt this stipend pool was a necessary intermediate step to make sure no one is discouraged from seeking an ASWC paid position based on financial need,” Damluji said.
Despite concerns of some Senators in attendance who believed that this fund oversteps ASWC’s boundaries, the fund was overwhelmingly passed.
For all interested students and members of the Whitman community, there will be a town hall-style meeting tonight in Reid G02 at 7:00 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the newly-reformed Programming Board. The next Senate meeting of the year is scheduled for Sunday, May 3.
