W&B Report:
The Wages & Benefits Committee has continued to work on the stipend proposal. The proposal is
comprehensive and could involve a series of bylaw changes. We do not want to rush this process so we
are currently gathering feedback from the E-Board and will likely consult the J-Board through judicial
review of our current documents. A key component of the proposal is establishing a balance between
stipend which are directly paid and support which may come in the form of funded professional training
to support the E-Board not only in their jobs but in their future professional lives. Another important
aspect of this proposal is providing this same time of professional incentive for RGSO leadership. Aside
from working on the balance of stipend vs. funded support for positions, we have developed further the
way we place values on certain responsibilities. After reviewing the documents we determined that
there are ten types of responsibilities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Liaising
Programing/training
Meeting facilitation
Meeting attendance/reporting
Information management (separate from finances)
Recruitment/Outreach (this is specifically defined in the proposal)
Financials
Strategic Planning / Agendas
Institutional memory keeping
Oversight
More specific definitions are laid out in the overall proposal. We welcome any feedback or questions on
this general snapshot provided here. We hope to have the full proposal to the Assembly by February.
Also, the Blue Ribbon Panel Report on Graduate Student Stipends was finally released. Everyone should
have received it through a message from the Assembly Speaker before the last meeting. The W&B’s next
task is going to be to develop a meme campaign (appropriate memes like “baffled boxer” or “success
kid”) to raise awareness about the details of the report throughout next semester to apply pressure on
administration to follow through with the recommendations.
-Caitlin