With our team of seven sabbatical officers each costing £20,000 a year, Opinion Writers Meryon Roderick and Susie Miskin discuss whether or not these elected individuals are worth their
FOR:
To the average first year, Cardiff student union seems a wondrous place offering invaluable supplies such as text books and stationary, good food and drink, a radio station, a cheap hairdressers and far more importantly: exceptionally cheap vodka and energy drink.
Ask almost any question in the first few months at Cardiff university and the answer will invariably be ÔÇ£havenÔÇÖt you heard? ThereÔÇÖs one in the unionÔÇØ. Much like many other people I talked to, the governance and management of such a well organised one stop shop for all student needs goes completely un-contemplated until the student elections take place.
Then it dawns on you that an establishment such as the union canÔÇÖt possibly be run by a group of students, popping in to make decisions affecting thousands of other students between lectures. The responsibility of such a role is huge and deserves the dedication of a full time member of staff. One can only imagine the state of affairs with a volunteer, part time team entirely running the union. Efficiency would be bound to be reduced, especially if the president of the union needed to revise for an exam.
Some feel however that more money is invested in these sabbatical officers than is necessary and some question their necessity at all. When considering the salary of those that run our union, it is important to remember that they possess graduate skills which are being diverted back into helping the university but are paid less than the average graduate salary despite being arguably as important as any member of staff employed by the university.
To any university the union is an invaluable institution that contributes hugely to student life but to Cardiff in particular, the strength of our union is a unique selling point so surely a professional management team is a prudent investment? ItÔÇÖs also important to remember that competitive salaries attract much higher calibre applicants which are what is required to run such a large organisation.
As all of the management team are either past Cardiff students or current students, they understand the needs of the student population better than anyone else and are in the best position to provide services tailored accordingly. This was at the heart of the debate recently held as to whether the NUS should have more say in how our union is run with many deciding that having officers employed by Cardiff university catering to our needs specifically was a much better system than being part of a much larger organisation. MR
Why would we want full time, well paid sabbatical officers? A better question is why wouldnÔÇÖt we? They are integral to how our union is run and our union is integral to student life across Cardiff.
AGAINST: 
Student union elections at Cardiff University are like a popularity contest. Students vote for their favorite candidate based on a short mannifesto, a silly costume and who gives out the best sweets. It seems vastly flawed to elect someone to a £20,000 a year job based on presentation rather than skill and ability.
Sabbatical officers are not representative of┬á the student population whose priorities include drinking, eating and working towards a degree. In reality students arenÔÇÖt concerned about the running of the Union.
The relevance of the positions can therefore be questioned, bringing the rather nice pay package to attention – should a job which is so potentially out of touch with students earn so much?
More than this, many students donÔÇÖt even know what the sabbatical officers do, or even who they are. Some, appear more important than others (an idea clearly reflected in the fact that the Union recently reshuffled the sabbatical team down to seven people rather than eight) and some seem needless altogether.
For instance, should we not have an activites officer rather than a societies officer and an AU officer – many universities already work on this basis.
Considering the amount of work which people do for a salary of far less than ┬ú20,000, I think that this combination of jobs would be good. Whilst I am by no means saying that they donÔÇÖt do enough work at the moment, I donÔÇÖt think that it would be unmanageable.
Would a selection process be better way of ensuring the candidates be worth the £20,000 they are paid. They should follow a more traditional approach, in the form of structured interviews, serious manifestos and a lack of fancy dress.
On minimum wage a member of the public would earn roughly £12,500 a year. Sabbatical officers are paid far more than this for positions that require only a few weeks of training.
A wage is normally used to encompass adult living whereas sabbatical officer get to live as students for an extra year. Drinking and socialising in one of the cheapest cities to live in Britain.
My friend has just got a job in central London on the South Bank, on a yearly salary of around £14,000. This is a nine to five job in the most expensive city in Britain (hence all jobs   in London have a higher wage). This demonstrates just how well sabbatical officers at Cardiff University are paid. SM
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