As we prepare to elect new student representatives for SGA president and vice president, it is a fitting occasion to discuss the unfair policy of student mileage reimbursement.

Students are reimbursed at $0.17 per mile when they use their personal car for transportation, as I do when I drive 56 miles roundtrip to bring each issue of The Crier to campus. This is incredibly low compared with the IRS standard reimbursement rate of $0.655 per mile.

I believe that the current SGA reimbursement rate reflects little value placed on the hard work that students like myself put in and I believe that it should be changed to the standard IRS rate as soon as possible. Just because we are students does not mean that our time is less valuable than any other member of the college community, including the faculty and staff who get reimbursed at the IRS rate.

This fall, I brought this to the attention of multiple people involved in student government, including faculty and student representatives. I was told by a professional staff member that they would look into changing the rate but it depends on budget and there were no specified steps or timeline. 

I was also told that this rate does not reflect the value of student time, but unfortunately I must disagree with this vehemently. If $0.65 is the standard rate for all working adults, we students, as adults, deserve to be compensated fairly. 

Unfortunately, the current student body president and vice president never addressed my email when I brought this issue up and I have heard nothing about any steps taken. Perhaps they didn’t feel the need to respond since a professional staff member already had, but I hope that this issue hasn’t been forgotten. 

Students deserve to be compensated fairly and this should be a priority for both the professional staff handling this situation, as well as the representatives we students elect to work in our best interest.