As rain poured down and temperatures dropped in Eugene on Monday night, proponents of the the GTFF gathered to support their decision to strike.

The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation held a rally outside Johnson Hall after its mediation session with the University of Oregon administration ended last night.

The rally began with lead negotiator for the GTFF, Amber Cooper, announcing the failure of the mediation session and informing the public of the GTFF’s decision to strike. After the announcement, several speakers addressed the roaring crowd. Representatives from Lane Community College, the City of Eugene and UO faculty attended the event.

The session was unsuccessful, as speaker and trustee Kurt Willcox said when he addressed the crowd. Willcox said he was speaking for himself and not the Board of Trustees.

“All (the administration) had to do was sign an agreement confirming the terms of this graduate student medical hardship fund,” Willcox said. “And they refused. Instead, they’re forcing you to go on strike.”

In recent mediation sessions, the administration offered to create a hardship fund that the GTFF would be able to tap into in case of medical emergencies. The offer consisted of a $150,000 per year fund and would be accessible through the Graduate Teaching School.

The fund was mentioned in the statement that interim president Scott Coltrane released Monday afternoon regarding the unsuccessful mediation session and the expectation of a strike.

“Today’s offer included a hardship fund that would provide financial support for graduate students in need,” Coltrane wrote.

According to the GTFF and Willcox, the administration turned down a separate proposal for the fund that the bargaining teams had created.

“So much of what the administration has put you through in negotiations this past year was completely unnecessary and disrespectful,” Willcox said. “But their refusal to sign off on the terms of a hardship fund that they were in agreement on is the final insult to you and to the campus community.”

Student group representatives spoke at the rally as well, including ASUO president Beatriz Gutierrez.

“The decisions being made by administration reflect what the university will be prioritizing,” Gutierrez said. “My hope is that they prioritize students and student workers before it’s too late.”

Colin Worley, UO student and member of the Student Labor Action Project, spoke about his opinion on the administration, as well.

He said, “I stand in solitarity with the GTFF and their struggle for a fair contract, not only because my learning conditions are their working conditions, but also because I recognize that when I raise issues with the administration, such as organizing student workers on campus, such as confronting student debt, such as tuition raises, issues that are not in line with the administration’s interest in the further corporatization of this university, I know that I will get the exact same despicable treatment that the GTFF has received throughout these negotiations.”

Both Gutierrez and Worley said that they will be on the picket line alongside GTFs.

The ASUO and SLAP have continually showed support for the GTFF, and were also apart of the confrontation of Coltrane at his office hours on Nov. 21.

Members of various labor unions on campus attended the rally. SEIU president Carla McNelly represented the union of UO classified staff during the event as she led the crowd in a chant when the rally died down.

“When you take one of us on, you take all of us on!”

Video by Craig Garcia @CraiGarcia and Brian Fair.

Follow Francesca Fontana on Twitter @francescamarief.

Your GTF may not be in class tomorrow.

The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation announced a strike after a final mediation session with the administration early Monday evening.

The GTFF decided to strike in October. A mandatory 30-day cooling-off period meant the union couldn’t legally stop working until after a handful of mediation sessions. The strike will begin on Tuesday and continue until the administration and the GTF union reach an agreement. Until then, GTFs who have chosen to strike will cease their work while continuing their coursework as graduate students.

Interim President Scott Coltrane replied to the beginning of the strike in an email:

“Today’s offer included a hardship fund that would provide financial support for graduate students in need,” Coltrane wrote. “Trust has broken down and rebuilding that trust will be a priority when this is over.”

You can find out what the strike will look like here. For more on why the GTFs are striking, check out the strike guide.

Follow Francesca Fontana on Twitter @francescamarief 

The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation and University of Oregon administration have been at a standstill in contract negotiations for more than six months. Monday is the last day the parties can come to an agreement, otherwise GTFs will strike for the first time in the university’s history.

Here’s what you need to know:

If negotiations fail and the GTFs strike:

What would the strike look like?

Instead of teaching their scheduled classes, GTFs who choose to strike will picket various locations on campus.

Picketing is the term used when members of a union and their sympathizers rally in front of a building or other location with signs and other material demonstrative of the strike.

GTFs can join the strike or leave at any time in its duration. However, once a GTF leaves the strike, he or she can’t join the picket line again.

The GTFs who choose to strike are doing so as employees of the university, not students. They can still cross the picket line to attend classes and do research. Former GTFF President Judith Lechner, for example, will be striking but will cross the picket line to defend her dissertation.

Why are they picketing?

“The goal of the picket is to be visible, to share information and to let people know if they decide to go into that building, they’re crossing your picket line,” GTFF picket captain Annie Caruso said, “and to let them know that we’re defining that picket line as a moral boundary.”

The GTFs who have decided to strike have not taken their decision lightly.

“It’s really not about creating trouble,” Lechner said. “It’s really difficult for every one of us. Every single person on this campus who is in a GTF position on a daily basis walks the extra mile for their departments and for their students.”

According to interim provost Frances Bronet, the mediation has been difficult for all involved.

“It’s really hard for many of us,” Bronet said. “We’re a family and we want to make sure that everyone is well-treated and feels like they’re a part of this incredible community.”

Can I still email my GTFs? Will they hold office hours?

Many GTFs consider stopping their work as not answering emails pertaining to the classes they teach as employees.

However, they may refer the student to other resources such as the professor of the class. GTFs on strike won’t hold office hours, but some who plan  to strike have held extra office hours the week before the potential strike to accommodate students.

When would the strike start?

According to the GTFF’s intent to strike, the first day of any strike would be Tuesday, Dec. 2.

How long will the strike last?

The strike will last as long as it takes for the UO and GTFF to reach an agreement. The last strike at UO was the Service Employees International Union 503 in 1995 and lasted less than a week, according to Julie Brown, senior director of communications.

How will this affect dead week and finals week?

For classes in which GTFs are not striking, dead week and finals week will continue as planned. If your GTF is on strike, classes will not be cancelled but instead taught by someone else.

There’s no way to know how many GTFs are participating in a strike until it begins, Brown said.

Will professors still give finals?

Yes, in certain cases. All final exams will be proctored, but it is not certain who will proctor them, according to Bronet. While professors can step in if they have the time, exams may also be proctored by faculty who have been trained to do so.

“These are people who are deeply, deeply prepared and can only do it through the approval of either the department or the supervising faculty member,” Bronet said.

Will my grade be an X?

No. The university sent out an email on Nov. 26 saying that although the strike would cause “disruption” on finals week, “there are plans in place to ensure that grades will be entered to complete the term.”

“The supervising faculty members are very aware that they are responsible to make sure that grades are submitted,” Bronet said.

If both sides come to an agreement and there’s no strike:

How did they avoid a work stoppage?

The GTFF and UO would come to an agreement on matters such as wages and paid leave. The most recent mediation sessions on Nov. 25 and 26 were unsuccessful. The two groups returned to mediation for a final session on Monday at 8 a.m.

“I’m extraordinarily hopeful that we can resolve it as soon as possible – but if there is a strike, we actually are as prepared as we can be,” Bronet said.

So far, the administration has offered zero weeks of paid medical and parental leave, instead offering “flex time.”

What is flex time?

In layman’s terms, it’s unpaid leave. Two weeks’ worth, to be exact.

“It was specifically to address that if you’re going to have an emergency or if you’re going to have a baby and you’re in the middle of your term, the graduate school would enable you to take the two weeks off and you don’t have to argue about it or feel awkward about it,” Bronet said. “You’re fundamentally guaranteed those two weeks to be able to leave or to be able to do what you need to.”

GTFs would still get their work done, but Brown says the flex time would make accommodating any leave more flexible. The GTFF declined that offer because it is not paid.

Do any other schools in the U.S. offer paid parental leave or other things the GTFF is asking for? 

Some schools do, but it’s not common, Rodolfo Palma, field representative for the American Federation of Teachers Oregon told the Emerald on Nov. 17.

Schools in the Association of American Universities — an organization of research universities the UO belongs to — like Washington State University, the University of Arizona, Penn State, Indiana University and the University of California Berkeley offer paid leave for graduate students, but it’s not so much about what’s offered elsewhere, according to Palma: It’s about what the UO can offer. Palma and the GTFF say the school can afford to give them paid leave.

If the UO offers paid parental leave and other things the GTFF is asking for, will more schools follow suit? Will other GTFs ask for it? 

It’s possible, according to Justin Buchanan, communications coordinator for AFTO, who works with groups like the GTFF on a state level.

“We would definitely hope other schools start following suit,” Buchanan said. “It would mean GTFs would get a contract that’s fair.”

Are GTF requests for paid parental leave becoming more common? 

They are, Buchanan said, and there’s two reasons: the rising cost of higher education and rising amount of students entering post-grad programs in traditional family-rearing years.

“Right now we’re entering a very interesting time in worker history,” Buchanan said, “where workers are once again standing up for their rights and once again demanding to be fairly treated.”

Follow Francesca Fontana on Twitter @francescamarief

Senior news editor Scott Greenstone contributed to this story. 

“No justice?”

“No peace!”

These chants were heard all along 13th Avenue as the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation gathered outside of Willamette Hall on Nov. 19. As passing students were diverted into the street, GTFs marched in the cold air – all in the name of a fair contract.

On Monday, Nov. 17, the GTFF began their informational pickets on campus. The GTFF held picket captain trainings during the previous week to prepare GTFF members to lead pickets if the strike occurs. Picket captains are in charge of boosting morale and deal with any conflict that arises on the picket line.

According to picket captain and GTF Annie Caruso, the purpose of these pickets is to educate passerby.

“This is supposed to demonstrate our seriousness about the strike because no one wants to cause any more stoppage,” Caruso said. “What we want to do is to ramp up pressure to hopefully not have a strike, but if we do, have it be over very quickly.”

The GTFF and the Student Labor Action Project stood along the sidewalk giving informational flyers to students. Faculty, construction workers and SEIU members arrived to support GTFs. The SEIU have used its paid leave as an argument for GTFs, who work under a 0.5 Full-Time Equivalent, to receive paid leave. According to their contract, classified staff working under half-time accrue paid leave.

As she passed the picket line outside of McKenzie Hall, UO student Megan Schaap shared her thoughts on the potential strike.

“Honestly, I understand the GTFs better than the actual professor,” Schaap said. “I don’t want them to leave.”

The picketing took some students by surprise. Student Michelle Nguyen encountered the GTFF outside of Willamette Hall. “I knew they were talking about going on strike, but I wasn’t expecting, like, a protest,” Nguyen said, laughing.

“It’s great that they’re doing this,” Nguyen said. “I wouldn’t have the grades that I have now if it weren’t for my GTF’s office hours. This spreads awareness so students notice. It’s affecting our education; we’re paying for this.”

For UO student Sam Lee, the picket line was the first time he has seen the GTFF in action.

“I always hear what’s going on,” Lee said. “I could hear it in class; it’s pretty distracting and annoying. But you’re really sending a message this way.”

Some UO students did more than grab a flyer on the way to their next class. SLAP president and senior Gabrielle Cicourel walked the picket line alongside GTFs.

“It’s been really motivating,” Cicourel said. “It’s a good way of getting undergraduates’ attention. It’s been cold, but it’s all worth it.”

The picketing follows the administration offering two weeks of “flex time” for GTFs. In an email to students, interim provost Frances Bronet explained the most recent offer, under which GTFs could flex their hours to take up to two weeks off due to a family or major medical situation.

“During the period that GTFs are exercising flex time, they will still receive full salaries, tuition and fee waivers, and health insurance coverage for their entire family,” Bronet wrote. More information is available here.

In a letter published on the GTFF website, GTFF president Joe Henry explained why it was turned down.

“The “flex-time” proposal would offer to GTFs who need to take unpaid leave for medical or parental reasons the possibility to shift some of their time into other portions of their appointment as to limit the reduction of FTE that grad employee would experience,” Henry wrote. “However, the proposal does not contain any guarantees that a GTF’s FTE will not be reduced. It does not even guarantee that GTFs will have access to “flex-time” – a GTF can request “flex-time” but receiving it is at the discretion of the graduate school. “Flex-time” does not change the reality faced by GTFs with single term appointments or GTFs who unexpectedly need leave near the end of their appointments.”

The GTFF mailed its formal intent to strike on Nov. 19, stating that the first day of the strike would officially be Dec. 2. There will be a final mediation session scheduled with the GTFF and the administration. If an agreement is not reached a strike will begin.

“I think we have an excellent chance of getting all of these demands met,” Caruso said. “We just have to stay strong.”

Follow Francesca Fontana on Twitter @francescamarief

Interim University of Oregon President Scott Coltrane’s office hours were interrupted on Friday by a group of students sounding off on the proposed contract for graduate teaching fellows.

Members of the ASUO, the Student Labor Action Project and the Multi-Cultural Center assembled in the lobby of Lillis Business Complex at approximately 11:20 a.m., chanting in support of the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation in its negotiations with the administration.

The groups formed a semi-circle around Coltrane’s table. SLAP President Gabrielle Cicourel then began a “mic check” — where a leader shouts a message and the group follows suit — declaring agreement with the GTFF’s demands of higher wages and paid leave.

“So Scott Coltrane,” the group chanted. “What are you gonna do about it? Follow your own research.”

The crowd of students quickly dispersed as Coltrane attempted a response. The president later released the following statement regarding the demonstration to The Emerald:

“I welcomed the opportunity to hear from students. That’s exactly why I hold office hours around campus. I invited them to join me to have a discussion about why I believe the university’s offer to the GTFF is family friendly and does support my research on parenting. I encourage anyone with questions about bargaining to visit the provost’s website for information.”

The mic check is the first student-led demonstration in support of the GTFF this year.

“I think that it’s really important for undergraduate students to express how they’re feeling,” Cicourel said. “It’s important to realize that we are filling this niche that is undergrad-based.”

ASUO President Beatriz Gutierrez said that there’s a lot of information circulating, but it’s all from the administration.

“Students are really worried about their grades and they’re looking for someone to blame,” Gutierrez said. “They’re blaming their GTFs and I don’t think that’s right. [The GTFs] are doing what they have to do.”

The GTFF also has also posted an open letter to undergraduates in which the group lines out its demands and why GTFs may strike beginning Dec. 2.

The ASUO plans to continue supporting the GTFF alongside SLAP as Cicourel prepares to host an informational panel with students on Monday at 6 p.m in the Lokey Education Center.

“We’re hopefully going to be picketing with them as much as possible and having flyers so that students can do their own research and look at the things that are going on,” Gutierrez said.

The student demonstration was separate from the GTFF’s picketing. The UO administration and the GTFF will continue mediation on Tuesday. The GTF union has announced its plans to strike starting the Tuesday of Dead Week.

Watch the demonstration here:

University of Oregon Professor Jennifer Freyd has joined 15 other sexual violence experts from across the nation in expressing their disapproval of the Association of American Universities’s announcement of a campus climate survey.

The survey will “employ a valid and reliable survey instrument to document the frequency and characteristics of campus sexual assault and sexual harassment and to assess campus climate in a way that ensures comparability of data across institutions and that protects the confidentiality of respondents,” according to the announcement. Conducted through the research corporation Westat, the survey will be administered to undergraduates, as well as graduate and professional students, and is planned for April 2015.

In an interview with The Register-Guard, Freyd said she disagreed with the survey because universities might use it as a substitute for the White House’s federally mandated survey.

UO professor Carol Stabile has posted the letter on her blog, along with a brief description of the flaws of campus climate surveys.

“Instead of proceeding transparently, openly, and scientifically, many universities are signing onto the AAU’s survey (which they have proposed as an alternative to the survey being developed by the White House for reasons they don’t care to specify),” Stabile wrote.

The letter urges the presidents and chancellors of the AAU to not sign the contract by the deadline of Dec. 1, 2014. The group of scholars also outlines its objections to the survey, which include the fact that the results will not be shared between universities for comparative analysis and “without comparative data among institutions, the practical value of a nationwide survey will be severely limited.”

The survey will be the same for every university involved, which would not allow universities to individualize surveys. Because of this, the survey may not meet the needs of campus student affairs officials, according to the letter.

Read the full letter here.

While the passing of Measure 91 legalized the recreational use of marijuana in Oregon, the University of Oregon’s policy toward marijuana use will remain the same.

The university currently bans the “manufacture, processing, distribution, or cultivation of a Drug, including but not limited to marijuana or narcotics,” according to the Student Conduct Code. While drug possession and use is prohibited on campus, according to the University Housing Contract, UO residents 21 years of age or older who are not living in a Wellness and Substance Free hall may consume alcohol in the privacy of their room with the door closed and can bring alcohol into the residence halls if concealed.

Vice President for Student Life Robin Holmes released a statement to USA Today via email regarding the policy.

“Marijuana use is, and will continue to be, prohibited on campus,” Holmes wrote. “Because Measure 91 does not make any significant changes to Oregon law until July 2015, we will be working between now and then to address any necessary policy changes as a result of the change in state law.”

While Measure 91 legalized the use of marijuana for those over 21 years of age, it is not legal until July 1, 2015. Until then, all marijuana usage remains illegal, and the UO student policy will continue to ban recreational marijuana.

Follow Francesca Fontana @francescamarief

The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation plans to picket outside of various buildings on campus during this upcoming week.

The GTFF met with University of Oregon administration last Thursday in their first mediation session, but have yet to agree about paid parental and sick leave as well as higher pay. 

The GTFF plans to strike after Thanksgiving if they cannot reach an agreement with the administration. The two groups are scheduled to attend mediation again this week before deciding to strike – at the soonest possible date of Nov. 27.

GTFF members and supporters will be picketing from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every day this week at a different location on campus.

The locations are as follows:

Monday – PLC and Condon Hall

Tuesday – McKenzie and Villard Hall

Wednesday – Willamette Hall, Lewis Integrative Science Building and the Lokey Science Complex

Thursday – Frohnmayer and HEDCO building

Friday – Friendly and Columbia Hall

According to the GTFF, if there are less people picketing they may just stay at one building instead of covering both that are listed for that day.

For more information on the potential strike, visit the GTFF website and the UO graduate school website.

The faculty behind the Disability Studies Initiative have a clearer idea of their goals following the second annual Disability Studies Forum at the University of Oregon on Oct. 30.

The forum, which featured Emory University’s Rosemarie Garland-Thomson as a keynote speaker, facilitated discussion about disability studies as a part of the Disability Studies Initiative.

“Our goals are, have been and continue to be to build awareness on campus around disability studies and building a disability studies degree program on campus,” said Heidi von Ravensberg, initiative co-coordinator of the DSI.

Currently, there is a disability studies option within the special education minor of the College of Education, directed by co-coordinator Deborah Olson, but a disability studies minor has yet to be formed.

The formation of the minor would require a sufficient number of courses that offer disability studies content. One favorable option is to make the program more cross-disciplinary.

“So, a student would be able to take a class in architecture, law, education, English, history and be able to get an understanding of disability studies as it intersects with different disciplines,” von Ravensberg said.

According to Elizabeth Wheeler, UO associate professor of English, advisor of the initiative and forum organizer, the initiative does not stop there. Eventually Wheeler would like to see a building dedicated to disability studies, containing an academic department and a research institute. Wheeler also emphasized the importance of a space dedicated to the disability community on campus.

“We have the Multicultural Center, we have the ASUO Women’s Center, we have the Mills International Center and we need something analogous for the disability community,” Wheeler said. According to Wheeler, the AccessABILITY Student Union, the disability student unioin, could use a lot more support as well.

“I think it is really important to not just think about the academic curriculum, but think about the disability community and about making lives easier for both graduate students and undergraduates with disabilities,” Wheeler said.

Hilary Gerdes, senior director of the Accessible Education Center, serves on the advisory committee of the initiative as well.

The Accessible Education Center offers many different services to disabled students. For example, the center offers academic accommodations such as sign language interpretation, additional time on exams in distraction-reduced environments and textbooks in alternate formats.

The center works very closely with the University Counseling and Testing Center as well as the Teaching and Learning Center.

“I think it’s always rewarding to feel like you’ve helped facilitate a student’s empowerment to get what they need to get their education,” Gerdes said.

In order to meet its goals, the DSI needs faculty development as well as fundraising, according to Wheeler. Von Ravensberg noted that in pursuing their goal to establish a disability studies degree program at UO, the DSI urges UO administrators to consider disability studies as an opportunity to intersect programming across disciplines.

A student who attended the forum finds that the working in Disability Studies is rewarding “because it makes me feel as though I deserve to be in the world.”

Follow Francesca Fontana on Twitter @francescamarief

This week will decide whether or not the first graduate student strike in the history of Oregon will take place at the University of Oregon. It will also decide whether Graduate Teaching Fellows grade your essays, tests and final projects during finals week, or whether they’ll be picketing instead.

But why are the GTFs striking? What do they want? And how will it affect your finals week? This GTF strike guide has everything you need to know about how a strike could affect UO students.

What is the GTFF?
The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation is a labor union of graduate employees of UO. They represent about 1,100 from a total of 1,400 GTFs employed by the university, according to the GTFF.
The GTFF bargains with the university every two years to negotiate their contract, aka the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

What is bargaining?
Collective bargaining is the process through which unions, such as the GTFF, negotiate contracts with their employers — in this case, the university’s administration — to resolve issues such as pay, leave, benefits and working conditions.

What do GTFs have now?
Pay: The GTFs are divided into three tiers. Level 1 GTFs, the lowest tier, are paid a minimum monthly salary of $1,335.99. Their pay also depends on how many hours they are working, known as a “Full-Time Equivalent.” For example, anything below a 0.5 FTE is considered half-time employment. GTFs work from 0.2 to 0.49 FTE during any given term. Individual salary depends on which department the GTF works for, as some departments can pay GTFs above the minimum salary. GTFs also receive a tuition waiver for nine to 16 credits per term. – Leave: The GTF currently has 12 weeks of unpaid medical and 12 weeks of parental leave per 12 month period.

What do GTFs want?

Higher Pay: The GTFF has asked for a 5.5 percent raise of the minimum salary for all GTFs for two years. – Paid leave, medical and parental: The GTF has asked for two weeks of paid medical and parental leave. The university has not offered the GTFF any paid leave, but continues to offer 12 weeks of unpaid leave.

Why doesn’t the university give it to them?

It’s not about the cost, according to Julie Brown, director of communications at UO. The university doesn’t offer paid leave to any other employees who work less than half time, such as nontenured or adjunct faculty and administration staff.

Right now, students have up to 12 weeks of projected job leave, according to UO Provost Frances Bronet in a past interview. No other employees that work less than half-time get paid family leave, Bronet said, and it would be unfair to give the GTFs special treatment.

Bronet was not available for comment for this article.

Who supports the GTFF?

Undergrads: The ASUO and the Student Labor Action Board have both published open letters in support of the GTFF. SLAP has also hand-delivered three letters as of Nov. 13 to Johnson Hall. These letters, addressed to Interim President Scott Coltrane, contain requests to speak with him about how the strike will affect UO students.

Unions: In addition to writing open letters in support of the GTFF, the SEIU, the union of UO classified staff and United Academics, the faculty union, have both shared excerpts of the collective bargaining agreement to show that part-time employees of both groups can receive a form of paid leave.

How did we get here?

According to the GTFF, everything was going well before this year, until the university hired a lawyer.

“Before, the grad school used to have a position filled by someone we had a history of working with,” GTFF president Joe Henry said in a past interview, “who knew institution, laws, GTFF, and so it was a good kind of working relationship. And that changed with the hiring of the outside lawyer.”

But according to the administration, hiring a lawyer isn’t uncommon in bargaining.

“It’s not unusual to enlist outside help,” said Brown. “Someone with extensive legal expertise.”

How do we compare to other schools?

It’s not necessarily a standard for graduate assistants country-wide to have paid leave, according to Rodolfo Palma, field representative. Palma noted that it’s common in universities that have well-organized unions for graduate students.

“It’s not so much about market,” Palma said. “It’s about ‘can this university grant us this?’”

A graduate teaching assistant or graduate research assistant at OSU working .49 FTE makes $1690.99 per month, which is more than UO’s by about $300 a month. But, graduate students don’t get paid leave, according to the Coalition of Graduate Employees.

At Portland State University, salary is very low for graduate students – around $1,000 per month for students working a .49 FTE. They get unpaid leave and no specified parental leave.

What needs to happen in order to avoid a strike?

The GTFF and the administration will attend a final mediation session in order to reach an agreement the day before the strike would begin, Dec. 1. If an agreement is not reached, then the GTFF will begin to strike after the 30-day cool off period has ended, following Thanksgiving break.

What will happen to faculty and the way they teach classes?

Each department will have to decide a plan of action from these options outlined in an Academic Continuity Plan put out by administration:

• Cancel classes so faculty can use that time to modify finals
• Change final exams so grading is faster (i.e. shortening page length for final essays or creating multiple choice exams)
• Forgo the final altogether and let students finish with existing grade
• Hire non-GTF graduate students, or even upper-level undergraduate students, to grade
• Increase the hours of part-time faculty

Members of faculty have opposed this plan in a Senate resolution, saying that the administration is “diluting and degrading” academic excellence with this plan.

What to expect from classes and from your GTF?

The GTFF has published a letter to undergraduate students on its website, explaining its reasons for striking and explaining the process of bargaining. While GTFs will be striking as employees of the university, they can still attend their classes as graduate students. Not all GTFs may choose to participate in the strike, nor are they required to.