By Amelia Nielson-Stowell
In between practicing with the Cougarettes, gearing up for Preference and training next year”s BYUSA president, Dave Johnson took some time for himself in early March — to create his resume.
“Look guys, I”m creating my resume,” Johnson said with a laugh, referring to the joke that students volunteer with BYUSA to “pad” their resume.
But the extra line on Johnson”s already crowded resume was hardly the reason Johnson wanted to serve.
“I have the best job on campus, because I can interact with students,” he said. “I”m excited to give back to the university.”
Johnson”s schedule is hardly “easy.” Johnson said during Fall Semester, his work schedule never included fewer than 45 hours a week. As Johnson scanned through his calendar, he noted a week when he spent more than 92 hours on campus and working until 10 p.m. some days during midterms.
“From the day I won the elections [Feb. 21, 2003], I did not go home to Arizona ”til a family baby blessing in November,” he said. “I used to go home two times a month. My dating life went to a zero.”
And while Johnson”s service hours are significantly higher than what most college presidents put in across the nation, the payment he receives is at the bottom of the scale.
An ongoing survey done by Student Leader Magazine found that 71 percent of elected student leaders are paid.
According to the results, student leaders are paid in hourly salaries, tuition waivers, scholarships, stipends, personal computers, cell phones, tickets to concerts and sporting events, clothing allowance, food vouchers and housing benefits. Many others receive posh offices and on-campus housing, personal secretaries, travel accounts, reserved parking, priority registration, class credits, first choice in housing lotteries, use of skyboxes at football games and a corporate credit card.
The Boston-based Northeastern University Student Government Association president receives the most out of all other student leaders in the nation, with a hefty $25,000 paid in stipends, tuition and food vouchers.
The survey, based on over 500 colleges and universities across the nation, also featured 155 private institutions. Of the private universities, 57.5 percent of the officers receive an additional stipend.
Johnson and the five vice presidents are the only student leaders in BYUSA who receive payment for their service hours. They each receive a scholarship, which totals $3,060, and some money for books for the service hours they put in.
According to the same survey, student leaders are required to work anywhere between 15 to 40 hours a week for their “payment.” Johnson said each of his five vice-presidents exceed the required 25 hours of service expectations. Johnson said most of them work more than 35 hours a week and he”s seen people who devote more than 50 hours a week to their job.
If the scholarship money was broken into hourly wages, the vice presidents would be earning an average of $2.35 an hour for 25 hours a week of work.
Kimberly Gardner, vice president of public relations, said she works a minimum of 40 hours a week.
“We have amazing volunteers who sacrifice to serve other students,” Gardner said. “Student volunteers from all across campus donated over 50,000 service hours this year to maintain the activities that are supported by BYUSA — this is no small feat.”
But while hours are long and pay is cheap, Johnson and Gardner emphasized they are happy to serve.
Gardner, with eyes wide open, responded with a simple “wow” when she heard the student government president of Northeastern University received $25,000 a year. Gardner said from the business standpoint, “the amount of work you”re doing, you should get paid that much.” However, Gardner said such an exorbitant payment doesn”t have its place in a student service organization.
“It doesn”t bother me that we don”t have perks,” she said. “It would draw the wrong crowd.”
Serving with BYUSA since her freshman year, Gardner said she wanted to serve to make BYU a better place.
Johnson was involved with dozens of other service activities before he became president, including founding the Choose to Give program. Johnson said serving in such organizations fired a desire to serve with “larger and broader groups.”
“I love the importance of BYU,” Johnson said. “The talent at BYU is remarkable. I watched hundreds of people give to BYU. There are a lot of Norm Nemrows on campus, but people don”t know about them because they are not a professor.”
Johnson, who has received extensive criticism from students because of his undelivered platform idea for a student radio, said he is still working hard to get the idea to pass with administration.
“The last two presidents, their platform ideas were dead long before ours,” Johnson said. “There are more issues than one man can handle at this university.”
