GSAC supports Yale graduate students

Graduate Student Associations Council members said yesterday they will support Yale University graduate students in those students' attempt to have direct involvement in university decisions. At their first meeting of the semester, GSAC unanimously passed the resolution supporting Yale's Graduate Employee and Student Organization, which has been fighting to obtain the right to "negotiate written and binding resolutions with university officials." Recently, Yale administrators have made several decisions that directly affect the graduate population without consulting GESO. Most importantly, the graduate students are now prohibited from registering beyond their sixth year of graduate school. And, according to GAPSA Vice Chair for Policy Susan Garfinkel, the school did not implement a grandfather clause for those students entering their sixth year of graduate school. Rather, they were forced to quit their studies. Other issues affecting the students at Yale include the closing of a graduate dining hall and major cuts in the number of teaching assistant positions. To protest being left out of administrative decisions, Yale graduate students participated in Monday's union walkout which University regional science doctoral candidate Fred Treyz said "basically shut down the campus for a while." The students have also staged rallies to gain support for and draw attention to their cause. GSAC's resolution states that the organization supports "ongoing efforts by GESO to obtain direct involvement in making policy decisions at their university " and believes "that university education can be enhanced by direct participation from graduate students." The issues facing Yale are not particular to its campus alone. Two years ago, University graduate students considered forming their own union to give them more say in administrative decisions. The effort never got underway, however graduate students organized "T.A. Awareness Days" to make faculty and undergraduates aware of their numbers and strength. Garfinkel said that many college campuses nationwide have been mobilizing T.A. unions. "Unionization could very well be a national trend," Garfinkel said. "There has been more and more interest[in unionization] in more and more schools." Cornell has a T.A. union which has not been officially recognized by the school, Garfinkel said. Other schools with unions include the University of California at Berkeley and Temple University. Garfinkel said that at the University, students currently have nothing organized. She said graduate students instead are starting to mobilize to decrease health insurance costs. Garfinkel added that graduate students may soon receive help in their cause. She said the State Labor Relations Board of New York gave teaching assistants the right to bargain collectively, the same rights Yale graduate students are fighting for. GSAC President Anne Cubilie said she feels that one of the first steps in this direction for University graduate students is the T.A. Compact, which explicitly states what is expected of T.A.'s and the professors they work for. "It's not a contract, supposedly. It's not binding, but it's a big step. It gives people firmer ground," she said. English doctoral candidate Cubilie hopes both teaching assistants and professors will uphold the compact, even though it is not an official contract. "Because it's being backed by the dean's office, it gives a certain amount of leverage," Cubilie said. Cubilie added that GSAC and GAPSA will be planning open forums on these topics in the future.

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