As the Duke Student Government election nears, candidates for the presidency are discussing many plans for reforming the University and the organization next year.
The next president must also, however, anticipate changes to his own academic schedule.
Reflecting a decision reached last spring by academic administrators and members of Student Affairs, the Student Affairs Academic Leadership Assistance Program will be eliminated beginning in Fall 2006.
SALAP was a scholarship instituted in the 1970s to assist student leaders in three major campus organizations. It provided summer room and board for the presidents of DSG and the Duke University Union and for two Community Service Center directors. It also provided each student tuition for four summer classes, allowing them to assume a lightened course load during the academic year.
Zoila Airall, assistant vice president for student affairs, said the scholarship was terminated because it de-emphasized the academic endeavors of student leaders.
"If you have an academic program that requires so much of your time for study that you're not able to be a student leader, then you need to think twice about that leadership position," she said.
She added that the scholarship was limited in scope, favoring students in only three campus groups.
"We need to look at student leadership positions across the board," she said. "The other organizations are just as important and often do just as much work."
The winner of today's five-person race for DSG president will be among the first student leaders to be affected by the change.
Candidate Hasnain Zaidi, a sophomore, said he considers the end of SALAP to be a good choice because the funds can now go to other uses. He added that he became aware of the elimination of SALAP before he decided to run for the office but the news did not affect his decision to run.
"It makes the job a little bit more difficult, but at the same time, I think anybody who cares enough is going to be willing to make a sacrifice," he said.
Junior Remington Kendall, who is also vying for the office, took an alternate view.
He said he learned of the end of SALAP from outgoing DSG president Jesse Longoria, a senior, and added that he does not like the idea of the new system, which forced him to contemplate his decision to run for the position.
Although administrators implemented the change to encourage students' academic pursuits, Kendall said by being forced to take four classes each semester, he plans to avoid scholastic challenges.
"I've basically finished all my requirements, so I can kind of find ways around taking difficult classes," he said. "I can see myself taking a full-credit swing dance class to lighten my course load."
Like Kendall, Longoria said he believes SALAP should remain in existence.
"SALAP has freed up a lot of my schedule where I'm able to meet with more administrators and more students than if I had a full schedule," he said.
Airall said the only foreseeable effect of the change would be the dispersal of work among other students in the organizations.
"We're advising students to recognize the fact that they are going to have to balance," she said. "They may have to think about how to delegate."
Although he does not favor the disappearance of SALAP, Longoria does not anticipate a significant impact on the structure of DSG or the role of the president.
"Delegation will be part of the shift, but I don't see an overarching shift as a result of this," he said. "More so, there will just be an individual decision of the newly elected president as to how to approach [his] scheduling."
Longoria said SALAP did not play a role in his decision to run last year and he does not believe its elimination has had a prohibitory effect on potential candidates.
"Even when I ran last year, I didn't fully understand what SALAP meant," he said. "They're running because they have the passion for the position and understand that the position is a sacrifice."
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