SGC-MMC is looking to fill their own pockets

Members of the Student Government Council at the Modesto Maidique Campus are getting raises while their Biscayne Bay Campus counterparts are having their budgets cut.

As of press time, the budget proposal that would wither BBC senators’ pay and boost that of MMC senators has not recieved final approval by the Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs. Nor should it, as this new budget is an indication of  SGC-MMC’s exclusive concern with its own well-being, even if its president is not receiving the pay raise.

SGC-BBC members might go unpaid next year, as detailed on page 6 of our magazine.

The BBC campus is home to about 3,000 students who attend it exclusively, and scores of others who move between it and MMC.

The low numbers have been cited as a reason for which the budget continues to be cut, but this does not take way from the fact that SCG-BBC has worked for the students through  engagement events and advocacy initiatives.

SGC-MMC is not without their own accolades; they too have been active.

But this does not excuse their unethical allocation of funds during budget deliberations.

It seems pretty basic to observe that cutting everyone’s salaries while raising one’s own dispels the idea that money is actually an issue. If it were, then salaries would be reduced across the board.

These cuts are not exclusive to SGC-BBC either. Other organizations across campus, including Student Media, have had our budgets cut by the Student Government Association.

A quick look at our budget memoranda from the past couple of years reveals the questionable trend. Our budget for the 2017-2018 year was $328,828 and was then cut to $300,000 for the 2018-2019 academic year.  In that year, SGC-BBC had already been cut relative to the previous year. 

Our budget for the upcoming 2019-2020 academic year is expected to be far lower: $265,000.

However, while Student Media and SGC-BBC have had our money significantly lowered, the compensation for SGC-MMC students remained the same or increased.

If money is tight, how can SGC-MMC be giving themselves a raise while their SGC-BBC counterparts, Student Media and other student constitutents are taking pay cuts?

If something doesn’t make sense, asking questions is both natural and desirable.

And so far, the only reasonable conclusion that makes sense is that SGC-MMC is being hypocritical in its allocation of funds.

We realize budgetary matters are often delicate, and we do not suggest everyone in SGC-MMC is somehow dishonest.

But this is why Elizabeth Bejar, the vice president of Academic and Student Affairs, should not sign off on the budget proposals for 2019-2020. Instead, the budget should be reworked to be more equitable across the board.

Photo retrieved from FIU Flickr