Student Services Finance Committee approved Rec Sports’ 2015-’16 budget Monday, but added an amended recommendation for the chancellor to consider a raise in student segregated fees to help fund Rec Sports next year.
The recommendation SSFC agreed upon was in response to the lower-than-average wages Rec Sports pays its student employees. As a committee comprised of student representatives, members expressed a need to take action to raise these wages.
“This body has come together to say that student wages are a priority,” Chair Devon Maier said. “This is an opportunity for us to send a very strong signal that we believe in a higher student wage, and that we believe in serving facilities that are important to over 85 percent of campus.”
Originally $7 per student per semester, the raise was decreased to $5 to conform to Rec Sports’ projected costs of raising student wages to a competitive amount, in accordance to the Student Recreation Leadership Council recommendations.
Starting wages for student employees would raise from $7.45 to $8.50.
When asked if Rec Sports would use the increased segregated fees to raise student wages, Horn replied with a quick “yes.”
Many committee members voiced continued concern about Rec Sports’ ability to deal with unanticipated costs and student accommodation with the budget they proposed because it leaves no room for backup or improvement funding.
“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room,” Vice Chair Thuy Pham said. “I really want to give [Rec Sports] some certainty to deal with their business, because I do want to give our students the best quality of service that they deserve.”
To consider these concerns, the recommended increase in segregated fees would explicitly help raise student wages and fund extension of business hours, emergency repairs and extended programming until the Master Plan renovations take place.
Some members felt uneasy recommending a raise is segregated fees, however, because Horn had ardently stated they were not needed. Representative Jessica Franco-Morales contested the recommendation to raise student funding because of the lack of information.
“I do not genuinely believe that all lines of communication have been open and clear,” Franco-Morales said. “There is still part of the equation that is missing.”
