For next semester, SEB is requesting a $16,000 increase in funds from SGA. Senior sociology and Africana studies major Andrea Davissays says that this money will go towards an increase in pay for all SEB employees, and that, although it may look like a lot, will only amount to a $50 biweekly increase in pay to each employee. They will know by early June, most likely, if this request has been approved.

So, why push for this increase now? According to Davis, it has been estimated that 65 percent of SEB’s board has two or more jobs. “We understand that there has been a shift in culture,” she explains. “So many students are now having to finance their own education. So many students are now self-reliant and self-dependent, and if we can help out in any way, that’s why we’re asking for it.” She also notes that this is also the first time they have requested an increase in funding in ten years. Generally speaking, the organization is efficient with their finances, whether that means making food for events rather than hiring a caterer or searching for the most affordable vendors from which to rent rides for Quadmania.

From the perspective of event programmer Mayra Perez, a sophomore pre-nursing student, the increase in pay would be nice compensation for the time commitment the organization requires. But she also stresses that her main motivation for being a part of the organization is that she’s doing something she loves. “We’re having fun doing this,” she says. “And we love that we get to connect the community, which is really cool.”

With Quadmania just on the horizon, many SEB employees are now working on ironing out the final details, but the event has been in the works for months. The musical artist whose Sunday concert serves as the keynote event of the festivities (this year, it is 21 Savage; past years have featured Snoop Dogg, Ke$ha, and T-Pain) was picked in January.

Various factors go into choosing the performer, including cost and how recently the artist has played in the area. “A problem that we run into a lot is Coachella,” Davis says. “It’s also around this time and a lot of artists that are popular are going to be wherever Coachella is going to be.” $120,000 is allotted to be spent on the concert, in contrast with the $10,000 SGA allots for all the events held earlier in the week.

In the final weeks before Quadmania, there are still a handful of things being finalized; marketers are working on publicizing the event with the most up-to-date information possible and small things like prizes are still arriving in the SEB office. Communication is key at this point in the process: “the logistics team is just making sure we create these very large spreadsheets, so they know exactly where they have to be, when they have to be here and what they have to do,” says Davis. The task, from an outsider’s perspective, seems gargantuan.

In the end, though, SEB is a group of students taking their idea of what they want to see on their campus and making it a reality. “We’re honestly just an outlet of fun. We do crazy random things all the time, and if there’s any opportunity for us to provide free food or free anything to the students, that’s what we’re going to do,” says Davis. Perez agrees. “It makes me feel really good that you can do something that people like on campus and [they can] get some free stuff,” she says. “Who doesn’t like that?”

NOTE: All numbers in this article provided by SEB.

Are you planning to attend the 21 Savage concert in the RAC on Sunday, April 22? What about the Quadmania Festival the day before? Have you ever been to a weekly movie night, an open mic night or a breakfast and bingo? If you have, then you are probably familiar with the Student Events Board, or SEB, the organization that holds these events and dozens more each semester.

But what exactly does SEB do? How do they function? Cursory glances at their myUMBC and Facebook pages show that they host events at a rate of almost one or two per day. According to SEB’s president, senior sociology and Africana studies major Andrea Davis, the organization produces over 100 events per semester, a seemingly Sisyphean task. They are also responsible for most of the biggest events on campus, including Quadmania, welcome week festivities, Homecoming and more.

So how do they manage? Part of their success lies in the unique space that they occupy within the campus ecosystem. “SEB is fundamentally different than any other student organization because we’re in a hybrid space,” Davis explains. “We’re a student organization, but we’re also a charter organization.” This means that, although some of their funding comes from SGA, like any other club, another portion comes from Campus Life, with which they work closely. This also means that their event programmers are treated like employees and receive a bi-weekly stipend of approximately $200.

It may seem like a large paycheck, but working for SEB can be time-consuming. Event programmers are expected to fulfill a quota of around 11 events per semester, meaning they are often working on several at a time. Davis says employees of SEB often spend around five hours working in the office per week, while event programmer Mayra Perez, a sophomore pre-nursing student, estimates she’s usually there for ten hours or more.

There are other positions one can hold within SEB besides event programmer — marketer and graphic designer for example — but the responsibilities of the various positions overlap somewhat, and there is no hierarchy of pay: everyone receives that same $200 stipend. All employees of SEB are also expected to work other programmer’s events wherever possible and to contribute to larger events like Quadmania. “For at least Saturday, we’re starting to work at probably 9 a.m. to maybe 12 a.m. the next morning,” Davis says. On Sunday, SEB works the concert, including post-show clean-up, which often takes until at least 2 a.m.

NOTE: All numbers in this article provided by SEB.

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