Why I couldn’t afford to run for the UCSA General Executive

My intended campaign poster which never saw the light of day.

For a magical, fleeting 48 hours, I ran for a General Executive role at the 2023 UCSA Election. I made a campaign poster, I attended the candidate briefing, I mentally prepared myself to barge in on a dinner at College House. I was ready.

While evaluating my possible study workload for 2024, I realised I should probably do the maths on those ‘pay days’ mentioned on the UCSA’s Instagram.

The role was advertised with a workload of approximately 10 hours per week, and annual pay was set at around $5,800. According to the UCSA Constitution, the executive’s “term of office” is from January 1st until December 31st.

If I were to work the suggested 10 hours per week, for the arranged 52 weeks per year, I would be making just over $11 hourly. The minimum hourly wage for adults is currently $22.70.

I just couldn’t swing it.

I would have loved to continue my campaign. I would have loved to connect with students and advocate for them. But we’ve all got bills to pay, and our time is highly valuable.

The UCSA’s student executive are elected roles, meaning they aren’t exactly ‘employees,’ nor are they exactly ‘volunteers.’ Their yearly earnings are called an honorarium.

Jared Higby, an Associate with the law firm Tavendale and Partners, said that this type of payment isn’t especially common. He defined an honorarium as “an ex-gratia payment,” or “a discretionary payment given for work otherwise done nominally without charge.”

“I would be more inclined to say it fits better as a discretionary bonus you may give to a volunteer to show gratitude, than it does as a stipend for an elected position,” he said.

Jared Higby of Tavendale and Partners advises against a high-trust model.

UCSA President Pierce Crowley described it as “legally paid volunteering.” His opinion on this status: “Does that sit right with me? No.”

President is a full-time position, and the Vice-Presidents and Postgrad Rep are part-time roles of “approx. 20 hours per week.” The seven General Executive members, the Equity Rep, the Pacific Rep, and the International Rep are all part-time, approximate 10-hour roles.

Rowan* was on the UCSA General Executive in 2020. They said that “every year is different,” but for them, the workload was about 10 hours a week. They felt their payment was fair, though, “the honorarium system was difficult to wrap [their] head around.” Even currently in 2023, they “still don’t totally grasp” how it worked.

“Maybe that’s on me, but it speaks to how UCSA policy is constructed in a way that makes wide-eyed students keen to affect change unable to see the forest for the trees,” said Rowan.

According to Crowley, payment for the UCSA exec runs on a “high-trust model,” with no timesheets. He said that in a given week, a General Exec member could work just two hours, followed by fifteen or sixteen hours the next. In the first few weeks of term, it can creep up to twenty-five hours per week.

Higby said that a high-trust model can leave room for error. “I wouldn’t advise it. I have had to deal with too many issues where things weren’t documented properly because the parties trusted each other, and when it fell apart, everyone disputed what was agreed or who said or did what.”

“Always plan for the situation where things go wrong, because more often than not they will.”

For Rowan, what exactly constituted ‘working hours’ was hard to define. “The lines blur between what is work and what isn't. Being active in the UCSA as a student quickly shapes your entire student life,” they said.

Crowley says that around 2016, exec pay was slashed by an “arbitrary 20 - 30%.” In his opinion, the established pay is no longer representative of the work being done.

“It’s like it was designed for the UCSA as it was seven or eight years ago […] I would even say, when I started, it still had that air of a ‘social group.’ But that's not what it is anymore.”

“It is really, primarily, about the advocacy, but advocacy, you know, that is so time consuming and it can be quite heavy on a person.”

Pierce Crowley, UCSA President in 2022 and 2023, on the 10-hour part-time roles: “The workload’s intense. I do think that they should be paid more.”

Advocating for students isn’t just about appearing in a few TikToks and handing out free bananas at Haere-roa. The General Exec members represent a faculty each, attending meetings, evaluating policies, working on academic appeals, and getting familiar with the struggles of university life.

“Something that I think is lost on students is how much UCSA members actually have their voices heard. I was given ample chances to go for it and speak up […] in the faculty I was in, leaders totally saw me as a valuable voice and welcomed my opinions,” said Rowan.

The General Exec make a direct impact, though they make some sacrifices along the way.

StudyLink student allowance is only given to those studying full-time. If an Exec member on student allowance gets overwhelmed with their role, they might not be able to drop courses without losing the money they need to get by. The pay they get from their UCSA work won’t exactly make up for it.

“They do such good work, they're still doing four papers a semester, and they’re foregoing their academic performance, maybe even job opportunities, to serve students,” said Crowley.

This is what I couldn’t manage. With other potential opportunities offering minimum wage, I couldn’t spare the 10 hours (or more) per week on tough work with very little pay. I was keen to advocate for students, but I had to first advocate for myself.

Within their high-trust model and elected position, the General Exec earn far less than minimum wage. But the living wage is even higher than that, $26 per hour.

A 2022 inquiry led by the Green Party found that two-thirds of university students regularly can’t afford the basics: bills, food, and medical care. The demographics most affected by the strain are disabled, Māori, and Pasifika students.

If you already have the time, the money, and the energy, running for a 10-hour Exec role can be a great addition to your university experience. But if you’re a full-time student, working twenty hours a week at Burger King and heading home to a mouldy flat at the end of the day, an Exec role might be inaccessible to you.

Description for the General Executive role as advertised by the UCSA on Instagram.

Crowley believes that an increase in pay would recognise the work of the Exec and allow the members to live fulfilled and stable lives.

“I do think that all the roles should be adjusted upward… and it’s those ten-hour roles that are in dire need of readjustment,” he said.

The Exec’s honorarium payments come from the Student Services Levy (SSL), a compulsory student fee. Increasing pay for the Exec may involve restructuring roles or increasing the fee. Crowley said that decisions on the topic should be “gone through with the student body.”

“I think there needs to be a conversation amongst students around the value that’s in this.”

Changes in funding are indeed very possible. In 2023, Crowley and Tumuaki Anna Pohatu attained equal pay between the UCSA General Exec and the members of Te Akatoki, UC’s Māori students’ association.

Students deserve to know where their money goes, and they deserve to be fairly recognised for their hard work.

Rowan believed that “more transparency is necessary for trust in the UCSA […] secrecy about behind-the-scenes practices, and things like pay, is naturally only going to make students even more curious, but in time, suspicious.”

“Gone are the days where students will just happily eat the sausage,” they said. “Today students are switched on and demand to know how it's made.”

Advocacy for the student body shouldn’t be done only by the most privileged. If it’s just a select few who can take on these roles, are they really representing us?

“Name has been changed for anonymity purposes.