By Johnathan Masters–

The University of Louisville Student Government Association’s “Build Our Nest” resolution, sponsored by Medical School Vice President Paul Mick, calls for many members of SGA to take a pay cut in order to hire a Professional Advancement Officer, whose primary function would be to secure more funds for the SGA in the future.

The pay decrease would call for a 7.5 percent cut of the SGA councils’ budgets, and for the yearly pay of the presidents and vice presidents of the councils and the SGA Senators to be cut in half. Currently, the yearly salary for the council presidents is $1,000, $500 for vice presidents and $200 for each of the SGA senators per year.

The pay cuts would only apply to this year, unless reauthorized next year.

“This is the  rst time U of L’s ever tried anything like this,” said SGA President Kurtis Frizzell.

According to the resolution, the Professional Advancement Officer would be able “to generate enough money to pay their own [salary] and much more within the first year.”

According to Frizzell, the SGA would hold a fundraiser in order to endow the o cer’s salary, so the position could become self-sustaining. Then the pay cuts wouldn’t be needed any more, he added.

 “I believe that the students’ fees should be given back to the students,” Frizzell said. Since the SGA covers the tuition costs of several of their employees, increases in university tuition mean less money in the budget, which has been stagnated at $600,000 since the 1960s.

The three directors of the Student Activities Board get their tuition covered and the SGA’s executive branch o cers get tuition plus a stipend. The six chairs of the SAB get 75 percent of their tuition covered.

This year’s SGA also faces a $31,000 de cit, which left it without any money to begin its operations.

“The ‘Top Four’ – the face of SGA – had no way of knowing that there was going to be a budget shortfall, since they got their stipends in the summer,” Mick said.

According to Mick, the “Top Four” have agreed to donate their stipends – amounting to $13,200 – for the passage of this resolution.

U of L’s total expenditures last year, according to the 2010-2011 operating budget, were $1.2 billion. SGA received $600,000, the least of all the organizations listed in the Operating Budget, except for Metropolitan College, which received $270,000.

The SGA’s budget made up 0.05 percent of U of L’s yearly budget.

Some of the $600,000 pays the salary of SGA’s supreme court, senators, executive branch, councils, staff , campus engagement, researchers and athletics.

The largest expenditure for the SGA is the SAB. e SAB will receive at least $160,000, which makes up 27 percent of the SGA’s budget, and is requesting $90,000 more.

“SGA should be able to sacrifice in the short term so that SGA will be able to provide student services at U of L for the long term,” Mick said.

Mick said he is con dent that his resolution will get passed because “ultimately, it’s about getting money back to the students.”

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