Graduate Student Senate passed a resolution Tuesday endorsing a teach-in event hosted by the Graduate Employee Organization, which will help graduate students collaborate on issues affecting them.
Instead of forming a union, graduate students are collaborating with the Graduate Employee Organization, or GEO, to work through their finance issues.
Graduate students provide services to Ohio University, and some feel they are not receiving compensation for those services equal to the cost of living. OU’s current budget situation has caused the academic mission of OU to be at risk, Courtney Silver-Peavey, biological sciences representative, said.
“Over the past eight years, despite anticipating an upcoming budget crisis, spending on administrator salaries have increased by 28% above inflation, costing over $8 million per year,” according to the resolution.
GSS encourages all graduate students to attend this event to learn more about how graduate students will be able to stand up for themselves.
It is currently illegal in the state of Ohio for graduate students to formalize a union, although most other university employees can organize a union. GEO allows graduate students to continue to work together, Alyx McLuckie, communication studies representative, said.
Graduate students do a variety of work for OU, including teaching, grading and performing research. The amount of work those students do does not seem to be reflected in the payment they receive, Silver-Peavey said. She also said the cost of living in Athens does not seem to be taken into account when graduate students are paid.
“The other big aspect of this event is the fact that it will have designated time blocks to discuss known issues that are currently plaguing graduate students,” Silver-Peavey said. “These issues are things like health insurance, living wages, quality of education and teaching training.”
In other business, Nikol Katherine Lopez Llantuy, human and consumer sciences representative, was nominated for the chair for the executive elections for the 2021-2022 school year.
Llantuy will act with the support of the GSS body to execute the 2021-2022 executive elections for GSS. As chair, Llantuy will get resources from previous elections to execute an executive election.
The GSS rules and procedures detail the necessary protocols needed to run the election for the executive positions, Brett Fredericksen, commissioner for student affairs — research, said.
The position of chair had to be taken by someone who will be graduating in the Spring Semester so there is no bias during the election, Kaelyn Ferris, GSS president, said.
Any graduate student who wants to run for the executive council should start thinking about it now, as elections are happening next semester, Ferris said. A candidate does not have to be a part of GSS already if they want to apply, but they cannot apply for more than one position.
