Every Gustavus student is familiar with the Collegiate Fellow program, either through serving as CFs themselves or through living on campus. Recently, changes were made to the compensation CFs will receive as payment for their services to students and the campus.

Changes to the Collegiate Fellow program have “been discussed… over the past seven years,” Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Dr. JoNes VanHecke said.

Planning for the upcoming changes started during fall semester, during which VanHecke spoke with the Director of Residential Life, Anthony Bettendorf, and the Deans of Student Life to reach a decision before the next round of CFs were hired.

The reasoning behind these changes is largely financial.

“Every year that room rates increase, CF compensation increases as well,” VanHecke explained. “This means… the other Student Life division offices’ budgets have to decrease to compensate for the CF room compensation increase.”

CF compensations make up 42 percent of the Student Life division’s total budget, making it the largest budgeted division within Gustavus. The CF stipend compensation is the second largest in the budget.

“When the Student Life division is asked to hold steady or reduce our operating budgets, CF compensation accounts for a substantial portion of that budget and thus it is difficult year after year to further decrease all other budgets to account for continued increases in CF compensation,” VanHecke said.

The room rates for the 2019-2020 school year range from $6,460 to $8,600 for students. With the current changes to room compensations, CFs will now pay $1,315 for their room and Residential Life will pay the remainder.

Returning CFs will receive a $500 stipend, and Community Coordinators will receive a $750 stipend. All CFs will continue to receive expanded cable, priority J-term registration, and a room draw bump.

“Together, this compensation packet makes the CF position the best paid student employment on campus,” VanHecke said.

“It may not come across as a big deal for most residents of Gustavus, but they will be impacted nonetheless. I never understood how much Collegiate Fellows did for their residents and the college until I became one,” Junior Trevon Sladek said. “The sudden news has forced many current and prospective CF’s to reconsider their plans for next year.”

One concern about the changes is how they will affect work performance and quality.

“How do you quantify $1,315 into work?” Senior Aleah Felton asked. “It’s hard to make any changes to the job without it affecting our performance, the value of work we put in, or even student well-being.”

Residential Life has scheduled several focus groups to listen to student input about the upcoming changes, which “shows how much Res Life values its student workers and their voices,” Felton praised.

Felton said that initially, after hearing about the changes, “I and many others were frustrated because we didn’t think that this change was fair… many feel an urgency for action.”

Felton believes that these changes will have the largest impact on CF applications, namely on the number of returning CFs.

“Returning CFs are incredibly valuable to the training and even year- long processes,” Felton said, adding that “There has to be a re-evaluation of CF duties… on top of that, student well-being and welfare is called into question because a CF’s main function is to uphold the mission of the college by helping foster a conducive living environment, helping them feel welcome, included, and valued within the community.”

“As a position, the goals and mission of the College, of ResLife, and of Collegiate Fellows doesn’t change,” Junior Thomas

Prahl said. “Changes may be made to the position, but the focus of the Collegiate Fellow

position will always remain the same, ensuring the residential college experience is positive and beneficial to the student.”

Felton believes the changes do not take into account the importance of CFs as “front-liners in a lot of the situations we face on a day-to-day basis, nor do they realize the consequences it may translate on student well-being.”

She encourages her fellow CFs to “utilize whatever resources possible to let their voice be heard… We are stronger together than we are apart.”

Current CFs will continue the 2019 school year under the old contract, and all CFs will begin work under the new contract in the 2019-2020 school year.

Though “emotions are high, and the topic is controversial, every interaction we have and conversation we participate in must be framed in a growth mindset,” Prahl said. “We need to take time to understand how it came about.”

“The CF role is an important one on campus. It can be a challenging position and… has great responsibility. For those reasons, changes to CF compensation were not made lightly nor readily,” VanHecke said.