The Student News Site of Simmons University

The Simmons Voice

The Student News Site of Simmons University

The Simmons Voice

The Student News Site of Simmons University

The Simmons Voice

Stipends for student leaders

By Kate Stieper
Contributing Writer

“Simmons student leaders drive the school,” said junior Sana Sajjad.

An average day for Sajjad starts with breakfast, then on to class with some time to squeeze in homework. A few hours at her job and time at her student organization meetings finish out her day. Then, a quick Bartol dinner in the evening, more homework, and finally, bed.

Sajjad is the president of two organizations: Pre-health Liaison and Neuro-Psych Liaison. She is also the treasurer of the Class of 2015 and holds two jobs as a tutor and a personal care assistant at Cerebral Palsy of Massachusetts.

“We go to a school that wants us to lead from the first semester,” said Sajjad. “They get us into the emerging leaders program and encourage us to become Orientation leaders, and Simmons 101 facilitators.”

Her typical day mirrors that of many Simmons students.

Sajjad was an orientation leader and Simmons 101 facilitator during her sophomore year. She attributes her leadership roles to her hard work as an incoming first year.

The good news: students like Sajjad can apply for compensation for their work.

The Stipend Review Committee, headed by senior Christina Ypsilantis and Assistant Dean for Student Life Susan Antonelli, are accepting applications for stipend compensation, according to an announcement made at SGA.

“There are leaders of organizations on campus who do a tremendous amount of work, and receive no monetary rewards. This process assesses the effort, hours worked, and the significance that this leader has made to the community,” said Ypsilantis.

This will benefit the Simmons community because “it gives all students leaders the ability to apply and be recognized for their hard work,” said Antonelli. “I hope that students that give all their energy and maybe can’t work an off campus job apply.”

According to Antonelli, the funding available for stipend distribution will come from the student activities fee; a decision approved by SGA in the spring of 2012.  There is no cap for how much students can apply for, “given that this is the first time we have done this,” Antonelli said. “We will learn and modify the process as we go,” she said.

“It’s a pretty short application process. We specifically created a simple process, and didn’t want to give the busiest student leaders a daunting process,” Antonelli said.

Dance Company President Abigail Rota is a full-time nursing student who is currently occupied planning a dance showcase for December, numerous fundraisers, and a competition circuit that will take the Dance Team to Florida. Like Sajjad, she works in addition to attending classes and fulfilling her leadership responsibilities.

Rota has been tracking her hours during the course of the semester in anticipation of the application process. “Sometimes there are weeks I spend more time doing things for dance than I do studying,” she said. “A stipend would be really helpful.”

According to Antonelli, the application will ask candidates to provide three adjectives that members of their organization would use to describe them. It will also ask if the student went above and beyond what is written in their organization’s constitution. “We want to know if Simmons students have made a significant contribution to the Simmons community,” she said.

Antonelli also suggests attaching photos of events, any publicity that was used, or documents detailing events or meetings, “essentially anything that that highlights what they’ve done,” she said. Applications will be due Dec. 6.

An advocate for student stipends since 2012, Antonelli’s message to students thinking of applying is “If you think you should apply, don’t hesitate. You probably should.”

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All The Simmons Voice Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *