UW–Madison policies about graduate students are complex. Some of this is necessary complexity — after all, many of us are employees and students at the same time, and need to be protected and supported in both those roles. But in many cases, grad policy is complex because administrators make it complex — to fit the…
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This week’s Cap Times cover story shines a spotlight on UW–Madison graduate workers’ long struggle for quality workplace protections. The article highlights the precarity and stress of working as a graduate assistant, and the fight for new policies and decision-making power. You can also listen to a short podcast, where reporter Yvonne Kim discusses what…
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Note: This article includes mentions of suicide. Graduate workers and community supporters gathered on Engineering Mall on Thursday to protest the return of abusive engineering professor Dr. Akbar Sayeed to campus and demand stronger workplace protections for grads. “We’re demanding that graduate assistants have a meaningful voice in crafting policies of the kinds that would…
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Readers are advised that the letter and linked article contain frank discussions of suicide and graduate worker mental health. UW–Madison workers and members of the university community have reacted with shock, sadness, and anger over a recent article describing the “toxic” working conditions that led to a UW graduate worker’s death in 2016. The TAA…
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“We, the members of the TAA, call on university administrators to enact the changes enumerated below and declare our readiness to act in defense of our learning and working communities.” The TAA has released its campaign platform, putting forth a vision for a public university that the students and workers of the University of…
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Between the cost of moving to a new country, bureaucratic red tape, and culture shock, starting graduate school as an international student is tough. At UW–Madison, however, international students face another obstacle: a fee of $100 per semester just for them, which forces some of UW’s most cash-strapped students to cover the costs of their…
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A coalition of graduate workers and University Faculty and Academic Staff (UFAS) members interrupted a reception celebrating shared governance on Wednesday, shining light on how workers are shut out of university decision-making processes. “We are never seriously consulted about things like fees, pay, increased resources for diversity and inclusion workers, and benefits,” sociology graduate student…
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Red for Ed Graduate workers at UW–Madison are wearing Red for Ed every Wednesday this October as we fight for a more just, inclusive, and accessible university. Wearing red is a show of solidarity with graduate assistants across campus and education workers across the country trying to make publicly-funded education a reality. Red for Ed…
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A new draft of university-wide policies for research assistants (RAs), obtained by the TAA, falls short of guaranteeing fair treatment in the workplace. Designed to be part of the Graduate Assistant Policies and Procedures (GAPP) handbook, which currently excludes RAs and graduate lecturers (LSAs), these draft policies ignore two years of GAPP workgroup discussions with…
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Graduate workers at UW-Madison have received automated emails containing inaccurate due dates for mandatory fees. Mandatory fees, including segregated fees and international student fees, are due on the first Friday after the third paycheck for all graduate students with an assistantship.This year, fees are due on December 6th, not in September (as listed in MyUW).…
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