Panhellenic Council restructured the budget to allow for expanded recruitment efforts and fairer pay for council members.
Under the previous budget model, each Panhellenic chapter paid membership fees based on the number of members in each chapter. Each member of a chapter would pay $25 in addition to a flat $500 assessment fee. In the coming fall, each member will be required to pay $35, with an additional assessment fee.
Panhellenic Council President Sydney Sterling said the removal of the flat fee would allow smaller chapters to be better able to support themselves financially when larger chapters had a far easier time accumulating funds to foot the bill. Additional changes come in the form of increased membership dues and an increased recruitment budget.
Sterling said pursuing changes to the stipend for council members became a “personal goal” for her at the start of the semester.
“We don’t run for these positions for money, it’s not really that much money anyway,” Sterling said. “When you’re adequately compensated or rewarded for your work, I think you’re prone to be more passionate and dedicated (towards) what you’re doing.”
ASUI, who voiced approval for the proposed budget in the weeks prior, passed a resolution encouraging council delegates to approve the restructuring.
“ASUI wrote a bill in support of the budget changes for a few reasons,” Sen. Martha Smith said. “First of all, we believe it is important to support other governing bodies on campus and look forward to continuing our relationship. Second, the gross pay difference between IFC and PHC is something that needs to be addressed.”
Under the prior budget model, Sterling said she was making $375 a semester compared to the Interfraternity Council president being compensated at $750 per semester. While Sterling acknowledged that the IFC was operating on a larger budget of $35,000 compared to the PHC’s operating budget of $20,000, the compensation for the respective councils was nonetheless disproportionate.
“Currently, the PHC council makes far less than the IFC council,” Smith said. “Yes, the IFC works on a larger budget, but the difference in pay is disproportionate even considering that. Holding a leadership position on this campus is not about the compensation but being fairly paid is essential to being able to maintain being a student and a leader on this campus.”
In addition to bringing a budget with compensation that is more in line with the IFC council, Sterling said that another major change comes in the form of equal compensation, with each PHC council member receiving $500 per semester, regardless of position.
“I just really had a hard time telling someone that their position was $300 less (valuable) than someone else’s,” Sterling said. “I don’t want them to feel like ‘I’m only getting $300 but this other person that does the same amount of work is getting up to $600.’”
Sen. Smith, who had been assigned to report on the Panhellenic Council by ASUI, said an additional area of focus has been determining how to leave room for growth in the PHC community as COVID-19 has continued to die down.
“This requires both an increase in events and outreach from our Panhellenic Council and an increase in fees to account for this,” Smith said.
With the increased financial overhead, Sterling said that plans have been made to rent out the ICCU arena for coordinated recruitment with the IFC. An opening social barbeque, as well as a guest speaker, are also in the works for the upcoming recruitment season.
“We want to make (sorority recruitment) the most comfortable, relaxed, stress-free environment that it can be because we want to be focused on making sure that they feel safe and comfortable as they go through and meet all these Panhellenic women,” Sterling said.
Royce McCandless can be reached at [email protected] or Twitter @roycemccandless