Ashleigh Spragins won the ASI presidency with about 2,000 votes last year. The elections are determined by students, who also pay a mandatory fee that funds 100% of the ASI president’s cost of education and living.
“Students know they pay fees, but I don’t know if they know which fees they’re paying and where that goes to,” Spragins said, adding that the scholarships go hand in hand with the awareness of ASI fees.
Spragins said she has always been open to conversations with students about the scholarship. Additionally, she said her scholarship has allowed her to better serve and support students.
Of the leading positions on the Associated Students, Inc., six are compensated through the Student Leader scholarship, or awards that pay up to 100% of a leader’s cost of education. The five other positions get 25-75% of these monetary benefits covered by the scholarship.
The scholarship is the only form of compensation the six leaders get.
According to a randomized survey conducted by Mustang News, 67% of participants had zero knowledge of the ASI student leader scholarships and how it is funded through the mandatory ASI fee students pay every quarter.
Josh Harkey plays for the university’s wrestling team, and is employed by ASI. He has been working for the ASI as a lifeguard since 2022.
“The people who are administrators [for ASI] are just not doing their jobs to some extent and just not getting the message out there,” said Harkey, also a business administration fifth year. “They’re just trying to take our money basically and not have us ask questions.”
Despite being employed by ASI, Harkey attributes his lack of awareness of the fees and scholarships to limited communication from ASI.
“I think it is only fair if they’re going to require [the ASI fee] from us as students that they be a little more transparent about how they’re using our money,” Harkey said.
For the past five years, Harkey has not been involved with the ASI elections. This year, he will be casting his vote for the first time.
Student leaders collectively were awarded around $160,000 just this year, according to records obtained from ASI Business Services. Students fund the student leader scholarships by paying a mandatory quarterly ASI fee of $71. About $2 from students each quarter goes towards the scholarships, according to the ASI’s website.
Since 2020, the scholarships given to elected officials have increased.
According to Heather Zacker, ASI director of finance, the amount of scholarship that an ASI leader receives is determined by whether they are an undergrad or graduate student and if they are considered in- or out-of-state. The cost of living and the increase in tuition also contribute to the scholarship totals.
As elections approach for the student government, a new set of ASI leaders will receive these monetary benefits.
“We have the financial support of other students,” said Reagan Denny, chair of the ASI Board of Directors. “So students are paying fees to us because they trust us.”
Denny’s scholarship covers 75% of her cost of education, according to the ASI policy manual. She’s also running for ASI President this week.
Through previous university and student referendum, the ASI fee has long been approved. It was last voted on by the Campus Fee Advisory Committee in 2005 when ASI last proposed to increase the fee, but student disapproval turned down the attempt, according to spokesperson Aaron Lambert.
“It’s expected that [ASI] is where your time goes, and you spend your time serving students because they’re the ones paying the fees that are giving your scholarship,” Denny said.
That time is 30-plus hours a week for both Denny and fellow scholarship recipient Marc Cabeliza, the University Union chair. Cabeliza is also a current candidate for the ASI presidency.
“We’re paid to be here, so we really try and give it the time that it deserves,” Denny said.
Meanwhile, Spragins clocks in around 40 hours per week.
“There’s always more to do and there’s always more to share,” Spragins said about increasing transparency of student funding and scholarships.
According to Spraigns, one of the ways she connected with students this year was through her “Let’s Hear It!” campaign, which gathered their thoughts, opinions and perspectives about various topics. Spragins also said she uses her Instagram @asi_president to share her progress at ASI with the student body.
Delaney Haines, a transfer student studying forest and fire sciences, said she was unaware that the ASI fee in her tuition funded the student leader scholarships.
“Wait hold on, it pays up to like 100% of their tuition for some of them,” Haines said. “That’s crazy.”
As a transfer student, Haines said she has not felt informed about ASI operations and policies during her first year. She remains skeptical of the organization’s transparency with students.
“They probably don’t want a lot of people knowing, maybe,” Haines said about scholarships and funding.
Kathryn Proctor, a mechanical engineering junior, said that although she has friends who work for ASI, she too didn’t know about the scholarships.
“I think a lot of people become aware [of ASI] when they’re putting on the big things like the Morning On the Green,” Proctor said. “But not a lot of the smaller acts of what they’re doing more behind the scenes.”
While she was unaware of the student leader scholarships and its implications, Proctor still supports these benefits for the ASI representatives.
“I think that’s really cool that they do a scholarship,” Proctor said. “And that’s probably something I’ll look more into.”
Other elected positions for the Board of Directors are voluntary and do not get paid. Additional wages for students and staff listed in the student government budget are only distributed to the 550-plus workers for the ASI.
The typical wage for an ASI student worker begins at $16.50, or California’s state minimum wage. Variations in wages depend on eight different levels of employment, and can range from minimum wage to $19 or more, according to records obtained from ASI Business Services.
Elections for leadership positions begin April 22 and end on April 24 at 8 a.m. The full ASI election timeline can be found here. Students can also vote through their Cal Poly login or the ASI website.
As Denny wraps up her term as Board of Directors chair, she encourages students who apply for positions like hers and others for ASI to bring change to the campus community.
“You, as a student, are getting to serve other students,” Denny said. “You’re getting to advocate for what you believe in and do what you believe makes Cal Poly a better place.”
