The newly proposed senator stipends faced some confusion Friday afternoon in the Constitution and Statutes Committee.

Senate President Thomas Pluchon and Student Government Branch Advisor Victoria Shore went over the Legislative Policies & Procedures to show senators in the C&S committee how the stipends will be implemented and distributed starting next fall.

The stipends will be a financial sum given to the senators at the end of every full semester they serve. The hope is that this stipend will reduce the turnover rate and fill more Senate seats.

The majority of the meeting was spent with senators asking questions about how their stipends would affect financial aid and scholarships they already have and how much of the stipend senators who resign before the semester is up will receive. According to Pluchon, there have been “five iterations” with Human Resources on how the stipends should work, and both he and Shore have been in contact with HR multiple times to ensure the stipends get finalized. The main problem is that Human Resources doesn’t completely understand the duties and responsibilities of a senator, therefore they are taking longer to finalize the stipends because they want to ensure that it will be used properly. Pluchon has been working to get stipends for senators since last October.

A few facts and figures on how the senator stipends work:

• Every active senator a part of the SG Legislative Branch will receive the stipend as long as they keep up with their duties and responsibilities
• As soon as University President Syzmanski approves the official budget, senators will start receiving $300 per fall and spring semesters, and $200 for summer semesters they serve.
• The stipends will come from the Activity & Service fee that UNF students pay as a part of their tuition.

In the Budget & Allocations committee, the senators approved a $1.2 million bill to help facilitate repairs to the Student Union that haven’t been worked on since it opened in 2009. This sum of money will be taken from the Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Student Union Fee Fund.

The next general senate meeting will take place on Friday, April 12.

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