Editor’s Note: This is a public Student Union document which has been reproduced to increase the document’s accessibility for the student body and to ensure the availability of a public record in service of the Danforth Dispatch’s goal of facilitating improvements to the community.
Resolution Advocating for Washington University to Fairly Compensate WUSAs
Sponsored by Chair of Academic Affairs David Mathisson and Senators Jojo Spio, Ethan Glazer, Hussein Amuri, and Saketh Bhupathiraju | March 2022
WHEREAS, Washington University Student Associates (WUSAs) are tasked with assisting new students with the academic, social, and personal aspects of their adjustment to Washington University and act as Bear Beginnings leaders during Bear Beginnings and then as peer mentors to students for an entire academic school year, and
WHEREAS, during Bear Beginnings, WUSAs are on call for 12-15 hour days, starting at 8:00 AM, and WUSAs are required to take manual labor shifts for at least 7 of those hours per day, despite being told that their main role would consist of supporting first-years, and
WHEREAS, The manual labor, which reportedly constitutes 70% of WUSA’s time working, has injected stress into a job marketed as fun, and
WHEREAS, numerous WUSAs have provided testimony suggesting they were not adequately informed of manual labor expectations before, during, or after the application process, and
WHEREAS, WUSAs are fully responsible for funding their travel arrangements and some even have to pay out of pocket for laundry, and are given meal points and Bear Bucks which disappear at the end of Bear Beginnings as their sole compensation, and
WHEREAS, WUSAs, in contrast to their supervisors, do not receive any compensation for their hard work, an arrangement which constitutes labor exploitation, and
WHEREAS, Washington University is exploiting WUSAs for their labor rather than paying the $123,668.70 ($1,075.38 per laborer) that it would cost them on average to hire outside workers in comparable fields to do the same tasks just during the 84 hours they work for Bear Beginnings, and therefore be it
RESOLVED, Washington University should commit to paying WUSAs $1,500 for their year of service, and further be it
RESOLVED, Washington University should fully and transparently explain all expectations for WUSA time commitment and manual labor during Bear Beginnings, and
RESOLVED, Washington University must implement these actions by Summer 2023 at the latest.