By RYAN HORNE
Students at the Waterloo campus can breathe a little easier.
Conestoga Students Inc.’s (CSI) two vice-presidents will not be getting a raise in their honorariums after a unanimous decision by the board of directors on Sept. 28 at the monthly CSI meeting.
An honorarium is a voluntary payment for services where fees are not legally required.
“It’s just a bonus and it’s something we do to appreciate everybody and all their hard work,” said CSI president Ciara Byrne.
The issue of honorariums was raised over the summer by the executive committee and they brought it to the board. The vice-presidents will be getting a monthly work review to see if they are fulfilling their job description.
If a raise was given to the vice-presidents, the money would have probably come from Waterloo’s events funds the board was told. The budget for the Waterloo campus is already only $40,000 and they would have to take $10,000 to $15,000 out of the budget for the honorarium raise. Alicia McDonald, director of advocacy, believes this wouldn’t have been fair to Waterloo students.
“That could really significantly affect how this year could go at that campus,” she said. “There’s not a lot going on there as it is and that could diminish that even more.”
Lisa Steele, director of research and development, respects the work of the vice-presidents but thinks all of Conestoga’s campuses should be treated equally no matter the size or prominence.
“I don’t want to take away from Waterloo’s budget especially when we are trying to increase the presence on the other campuses,” said Steele.
The directors get paid $17.50 an hour in honorariums while the vice-presidents get paid $12.50 an hour. The vice-presidents were hoping to get paid the same amount as the eight directors. Vice-presidents do get some perks though as they receive $50 each month toward their cellphone bills.
If they gave raises to the two vice-presidents positions they would have gone over the honorarium budget. In the past the director honorariums have increased twice while the vice-presidents have never had an increase.
Vice-presidents work 15 hours per week while directors work five hours. VPs also have CSI signing authority and work during the summer.
At the end of the day the general consensus among the directors was that if the money is going to be taken away from the students then it is not worth it.
“No matter where we get that money from it’s going be taken from the students,” said Zoey Ross, director of sustainability.
A review will be brought to the policy committee and the subject will be discussed again in January.
In other news, the board discussed upcoming events including “Movember” which will be taking place in November.
The purpose of Movember is to raise funds and also awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer.
Men are encouraged to grow a wacky or crazy moustache. CSI discussed ideas for a college-wide campaign including a pub night, T-shirts and competitions for the best moustache.
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