As far as I can tell (I attend UC Santa Barbara, where graduate students started striking Thursday) this has only strengthened the resolve of the protesters. There were complaints about the strike "hurting the quality of education" which may have turned some against the graduate students involved but with this move (specifically, firing 52 number of graduate students, not providing appointments to others) I can only see the issue getting more heated.
I find it ironic that on the same page where the University is detailing how badly they intend to treat the graduate students, they also have a link to make a gift to the University.
If I were in a position to make a significant gift, I would be more inclined to make it to the graduate students (e.g. through a strike fund, or other means).
I graduated from the University of California at San Diego more than 45 years ago. I graduated with honors, and I was proud to be a UCSD graduate. After I started working, I made (modest) contributions to UCSD's scholarship funds. I stopped doing that after Janet Napolitano was named president of the University of California.
It makes me sad that the University of California seems to be determined to join the Ivy League schools in becoming a hedge fund with a minor side business in education.
One of the better ways that occurred to me when we Cal grad students were protesting a couple of decades ago was, rather than withhold the grades, simply to give everyone an 'A'. That form of protest most directly targeted the institution since it simply affected its reputation. The students were not hurt, the grad students could comply with their obligations and move on. I am surprised that such an approach never took off.
How are the students not hurt if the reputation of their university is damaged? Especially if you are a good student. Graduate admissions are aware of this kind of stuff, and it will screw over real A students royally.
>Like the UC Santa Cruz strike, the UC Santa Barbara work stoppage is a “wildcat” strike, meaning that graduate students are acting separately from the United Auto Worker (UAW) 2865, the union which represents more than 19,000 workers across the UC system.
I thought that was a mistake somehow, but it turns out that, yes, the UC students are organized as a branch of UAW despite not being auto workers.
Look at what they've been doing, especially around construction. Part of it goes towards interest payments on bonds they issued to pay for new buildings. Part of it goes towards the staff and maintenance of those buildings. Part of it goes towards administration. Whatever is left is used to the benefit of students. Now, when I see a campus with construction projects, or planned construction, I don't think that's great I see it as another expensive boondoggle university administrators are engaging in.
Striking coincidence that I’m reading a biography on Jimmy Hoffa right now.
$2500 a year is a slap in the face to the $1800 / month the students were demanding.
Something needs to change there. For the Midwest small college town where I went $20,000-30,000 was plenty (for people without kids at least). I imagine it’d be a lot harder in CA coastal cities.
When I was represented by a graduate student union, our department actually tried to raise wages.
This was opposed by the union (solidarity!), and the result was that the department essentially invented fake courses to pad the hours of the grad students; the union didn't care because we were "working more" rather than getting "paid more"
This led me to believe that grad student unions were not a particularly useful way of dealing with issues affecting graduate students.
NIMBYism in Santa Cruz has resulted in a massive increase in prices over the past few years.
Additionally, the students at this campus voted with an 80% majority against the prior contract that the union had negotiated on behalf of grad students at all campuses simultaneously. Students at other campuses with lower cost of living are not squeezed nearly as much.
saagarjha|6 years ago
inetsee|6 years ago
If I were in a position to make a significant gift, I would be more inclined to make it to the graduate students (e.g. through a strike fund, or other means).
inetsee|6 years ago
I graduated from the University of California at San Diego more than 45 years ago. I graduated with honors, and I was proud to be a UCSD graduate. After I started working, I made (modest) contributions to UCSD's scholarship funds. I stopped doing that after Janet Napolitano was named president of the University of California.
It makes me sad that the University of California seems to be determined to join the Ivy League schools in becoming a hedge fund with a minor side business in education.
acuster|6 years ago
davrosthedalek|6 years ago
tantalor|6 years ago
It's a dereliction, not compliance. Your job is to sincerely, fairly, and justifiably assign grades, and not arbitrarily.
chrisseaton|6 years ago
They’re not getting genuine feedback on their work.
saagarjha|6 years ago
jlg23|6 years ago
heligate229|6 years ago
[deleted]
pmoriarty|6 years ago
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wxe45b/graduate-student-s...
SilasX|6 years ago
>Like the UC Santa Cruz strike, the UC Santa Barbara work stoppage is a “wildcat” strike, meaning that graduate students are acting separately from the United Auto Worker (UAW) 2865, the union which represents more than 19,000 workers across the UC system.
I thought that was a mistake somehow, but it turns out that, yes, the UC students are organized as a branch of UAW despite not being auto workers.
praptak|6 years ago
yardie|6 years ago
pjc50|6 years ago
swiley|6 years ago
rubidium|6 years ago
$2500 a year is a slap in the face to the $1800 / month the students were demanding.
Something needs to change there. For the Midwest small college town where I went $20,000-30,000 was plenty (for people without kids at least). I imagine it’d be a lot harder in CA coastal cities.
ellisv|6 years ago
I didn’t realize most strikes were sanctioned...
throw_away|6 years ago
They mean not sanctioned by the union leadership in this case.
gbronner|6 years ago
This led me to believe that grad student unions were not a particularly useful way of dealing with issues affecting graduate students.
spyckie2|6 years ago
It seems like they're willing to pay extra money but not via a wage increase?
Consultant32452|6 years ago
https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/how-why-gove...
saagarjha|6 years ago
inventtheday|6 years ago
epistasis|6 years ago
Additionally, the students at this campus voted with an 80% majority against the prior contract that the union had negotiated on behalf of grad students at all campuses simultaneously. Students at other campuses with lower cost of living are not squeezed nearly as much.
arkades|6 years ago
sev0|6 years ago