WHY ARE WE CONSIDERING STRIKING OVER TUITION WAIVERS AND DIFFERENTIALS?

We’ve been asked a lot why it is so important to secure tuition waivers and put an end to increasing tuition differentials in our contract now. The reason is simple: if we don’t secure these things in the contract now, we will not have the ability to protect GEO members from any attempts to cut tuition waivers or increase or implement new tuition differentials in the future.

Q: What if we agree to a contract that does not protect tuition waivers?

The university will have a free hand to change its waiver policy and cut waivers however, and wherever they want, and at any time.

Q: But they wouldn’t cut our waivers, right?

Last year, at UIUC, the administration proposed that all graduate employees with less than a 33% appointment would lose tuition waivers.

The UIUC GEO successfully fought back by organizing and by winning a contract that protected tuition waivers. The proposal UIC presented on waivers during mediation on March 26 would serve only to make waivers less secure than they are now.

Q: What about tuition differentials?

The administration has not yet provided us with a counterproposal regarding tuition differentials. They have simply rejected our proposal. This means that the university can continue to implement and increase tuition differentials at any time, with no input from graduate students. The GEO believes that graduate students should have a say in tuition differentials. A contract that guarantees tuition waivers but allows the university to increase differentials arbitrarily and with no warning poses an economic threat to graduate students who are trying to complete their education at UIC.

Q: How will UIC attract quality graduate students if they cut tuition waivers and increase tuition differentials?

If the university decides to cut tuition waivers, it might not be an “all or nothing” affair. They may grant 80% waivers, hoping that graduate employees would pay 20% of their tuition so they don’t have to transfer to finish their degrees. They also might grant all incoming graduate employees full waivers, and then only partially waive tuition in subsequent years, a practice that may encourage top-notch graduate students to finish their education elsewhere. Or they might only grant tuition waivers to PhD students, which is a practice some departments have already instituted. Additionally, tuition differentials could prevent students from finishing their education at UIC because they can be implemented or increased at any time, with no warning.

The truth is that we don’t know the administration’s plans regarding tuition waivers and differentials. We only know that during nearly a year of contract negotiations, the UIC administration has not agreed to secure tuition waivers or give grads a say in tuition differentials. Because of this, we’re worried that the administration does have some long term plans to cut or reduce tuition waivers and to continue increasing tuition differentials.

No matter their plans, the only way to protect our education is to protect our tuition waivers right now and to fight for a way to give graduate students a say in what happens with tuition differentials.

Q: The GEO said that the UIC administration’s proposal about tuition waivers make waivers less secure than they are now. Why?

Currently, tuition waivers are given to all graduate employees holding between .25% and .67% FTE appointments. At mediation on March 26, the administration proposed tuition waiver language that would allow individual departments to set the terms of those waivers. Additionally, for the first time, they proposed that tuition waiver policies could “vary” between departments, meaning that, unlike now, it would be possible for departments to supplement their budgets by introducing fractional tuition waivers.

Graduate employees now know that if they get a waiver, it will be a full waiver. If we agree to the administration’s proposal introduced on March 26, it would open the door to partial waivers, waivers only for certain types of students, or the abolition of waivers in certain departments.

Q: What’s next?

Thursday, April 1, 5-7 pm in SCE 329: Attend the GEO’s EMERGENCY STRIKE MEETING to decide whether we will continue to fight to secure tuition waivers and do something about skyrocketing tuition differentials.

Monday, April 5, 8-10 am outside of SCE: Attend a RALLY DEMANDING A FAIR CONTRACT that will occur in conjunction with our mediation session that day.

In the meantime, we must keep up the pressure to grant graduate employees a fair contract immediately. That means sending letters to the administration (use our online form at http://xrl.us/bgfowe), coming to our planned rally on the 5th, and talking with your colleagues to encourage them to do the same.

To help in other ways, contact Jes Cook, GEO Organizing Chair, at organizing@uic-geo.net or Jayson Anton, Strike Committee Chair atjay2165@gmail.com.