The committee was reviewing the assembly’s three chairpersons when the allegations arose. During the public comment portion of Academic Assembly chairperson Kristy Currier’s review, former member Ryan Starski said Currier was paid $2,228.55 in “student taxpayer dollars” in spite of being in Arkansas 10 weeks on an internship.

Starski represented the Residence Halls Association from March until mid-September.

“She has failed to uphold the code,” Starski told the committee.

Currier spoke to the committee after Starski and said she had documented proof she worked more hours during the summer than required by the bylaws. She also said the assembly was aware of her internship before electing her as chairperson last spring.

“I actually have proof that I worked (more than) the required office hours,” she told the committee.

Copies of Currier’s time sheets given to The State News from after her internship indicate Currier logged more than 141 hours of work. Time sheets were not available from before she left for her internship because the organization only began electronically logging hours during the summer. Currier said she worked 40 or more hours per week before leaving for Arkansas.

“There wasn’t any wrongdoing,” she said.

The committee’s members seemed to be split about Starski’s comments. Although at least one member called the alleged violations “grievous,” another member suggested the group proceed carefully.

“She has done a great job,” said Justin Epstein, who represents the Eli Broad College of Business. “We have people vouching for her and vouching for her efforts over the summer.”

Currier said Wednesday she worked 323 total hours during the summer, slightly less than double the amount required by the group’s bylaws.

“This is just something that’s distracting from the issues at hand,” she said. “We have a lot of student issues to deal with.”

Mandy Griffin, who represents the College of Natural Sciences on Academic Assembly, said she felt a formal reprimand was in order. She said regardless of whether Currier worked an adequate number of hours, the assembly’s code of operations stipulates its chairperson must serve at least 12 office hours per week and all of them must be carried out in the office.

But Currier said it was a generally accepted practice that office hours could be made up later.

Starski was the former chairperson of the assembly’s Budgets and Standards Committee until he was not re-elected to serve as RHA’s representative to ASMSU. He said his speech was not intended as an attack.

“I feel I’m no longer the representative because the (executive) board of RHA did not want to risk their reputation with ASMSU,” he said.

RHA officials declined to comment on Starski’s speech.