An honorarium is a payment given for professional services for outside speakers and performers bought to the college.
This policy applies only to honorariums and not to board, lodging, travel or other related costs
SFC may choose to allocate beyond the caps mentioned in this policy.
Please get in touch with Tina Zwegat at the Office of Student Involvement to contract. negotiation, which is required before services can be rendered.
The SFC will not allocate funds for any events during reading period.
Contents:
Overview
Academic Speakers
Non-Academic Speakers
Coaches
Student Honorariums
Negotiation of Contracts
1. Overview The SFC will follow this policy when determining how to fund honorariums for speakers, performers, and other visitors to Oberlin College, during both the Ad Hoc and Spring Allocation processes. This policy applies only to honorariums; other common components of speaker compensation, such as lodging, food, and transportation, are covered in the SFC Pricing Guide. When considering allocations for honorariums, the SFC will consider the following factors, in addition to adhering to the guidelines of this policy: expected attendance at the event, accessibility of the event to the student body, level of interest on campus about the subject, the uniqueness of the event, and the level of honorariums paid by academic departments for similar events (in the case of academic speakers).
For the purposes of this policy, speakers are divided into two categories: Academic and Non-Academic.
Academic speakers are those who hold a position at an institution of higher education; or, speakers who are brought to Oberlin in order to lecture or hold a workshop/seminar with an educational intent. For example, scholars, politicians, or activists all fall within this category
Non-Academic speakers are those individuals or groups brought to Oberlin to perform or hold an organized event with aesthetic rather than educational purposes. For example, musical or dance groups, poets, or writers all fall within this category.
When planning to pay professionals for their service, it is important to note that checks are cut by the Controller’s Office on Wednesday afternoon each week.
2. Academic Speakers For academic speakers, as defined above, the following caps apply to honorariums. These are upper bounds for funding, and should act as guidelines in negotiating honorariums with potential speakers. However, the SFC is under no obligation to fund these full amounts.
Graduate student or recent alum: $300
Assistant or Associate Professor: $500
Full Professor: $1,000
These caps are for a single speaker for a single event. An honorarium paid to a single speaker for multipleevents over the course of multiple days shall be based on the caps for single events, while taking into account the nature and timing of the events. The SFC recognizes that some speakers are of such prominence as to require a high honorarium, exceeding the caps outlined in this policy. Organizations may request that a particular speaker receive an honorarium that is higher than the normal cap. The SFC will not allocate a sum higher than the above guidelines unless the following conditions are met:
The petitioning organization has been in contact with the proposed speaker, and the speaker has expressed his or her willingness to come to Oberlin.
The speaker has requested an honorarium that is higher than this policy normally allows, and efforts to negotiate a lower honorarium have failed.
The organization obtains the written endorsement of a chair of an appropriate College academic department (in the form of either an attached email or a written and signed letter), which affirms that a specific honorarium figure befits the rank, stature, or prominence of the proposed speaker.
The Committee strongly recommends that all organizations or individuals hoping to invite speakers to Oberlin consult the relevant academic departments as early as possible to determine a suitable honorarium and seek endorsement if necessary.
3. Non-Academic Speakers For non-academic speakers, as defined above, the following caps will apply to honorariums. Under this definition, a band or group of performers will be considered the equivalent of a single speaker/performer. General cap for a non-academic speaker/performer is $2,000. The Committee may decide to allocate a lower honorarium if it deems it suitable for the speaker/performer being invited. The SFC recognizes that some non-academic speakers or performers will sometimes warrant a larger honorarium, due to their fame or prominence. Organizations may request that a particular speaker or performer receive an honorarium that is higher than the normal cap. The SFC will in no case allocate a sum higher than the above cap unless the following conditions are met:
The petitioning organization has been in contact with the proposed speaker/performer, and the speaker/performer has expressed his or her willingness to come to Oberlin.
The speaker/performer has requested an honorarium that is higher than this policy normally allows, and efforts to negotiate a lower honorarium have failed.
The organization obtains the written endorsement of the Associate Director of the Oberlin College Student Union (currently Tina Zwegat) affirms that a specific honorarium figure is appropriate for the proposed speaker/performer. Such an endorsement must be attached to the budget in which the honorarium is requested.
4. Coaches SFC can fund one coach for each club sports team at a maximum of $1,000 per semester. Student coaches must have been paid as a coach outside of Oberlin to be eligible for SFC funds. SFC will not fund separate travel/gas costs for speakers and coaches outside of the requested honorarium. 5. Student Honorariums Performers
Student performers seeking a degree from the Conservatory may be paid up to $50 an hour to perform. SFC will only review budgets requests for active performance times. Active performance time does not include time where students are not performing.
Student performers who are not seeking a degree from the Conservatory may be paid up to $50/hour to perform in addition to one practice before the performance. The SFC will consider the student's professional repertoire for this type of request. Students with a robust musical repertoire (previous albums, performances, teaching experiences, etc.) are potentially eligible for compensation.
Photographers
SFC will fund a student photographer at minimum wage for up to 30 minutes of editing time per hour of shooting time under the following conditions.
As with other student performers, the student photographer must have an established portfolio (can be an instagram or website demonstrating practice) at minimum wage. However, we recognize that photographers have different rates of shooting time and touching up photos, so please come to office hours/meet with an SFC member to discuss their quote. When deliberating on these types of requests, we will consider:
Length of shoot
Number of photos taken
Number of retouched photos
Alternative options for a photoshoot include hiring an outside photographer. Student organizations must follow the of outside performers and their honorarium quotes ad negotiate a contract with the director of Student Involvement.
6. Negotiation of Contracts To book an outside performer or speaker, you must first receive a quote from the individual (or their team, such as an agent) with a requested price. After a quote has been requested, communication with the professional must cease until contract negotiation is initiated. Next, your org needs to reserve a room for the desired day(s) of the event. Now you are ready to request money from SFC! Be sure to include the correspondence between your org and the professional (a screenshot of the conversation is great), along with the space you have reserved for the event in your ad hoc/budget request. Once your funding request has been approved, you may contact Tina Zwegat to begin contract negotiations. After both parties sign the contract, your org will need to submit an RFP to pay the professional. Lastly, have a blast at your event! Please be aware that if SFC gets word that an organization has begun contract negotiations without having approved funds, we cannot guarantee that you will receive funding from us.