2013 gsu welcome guide
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Graduate Students United
welcome
Since its founding in 2007, GSU has built a movement of hundreds strong united in pursuit of better conditions for work and study at the University of Chicago. In the past five years, GSU has led campaigns for access to decent and affordable health-care and childcare, an end to punitive fees, and better pay for the work we do here on campus—whether teaching, re-search, or other labor. We have stood in solidarity with other campus workers, in-cluding nurses, housekeepers, janitors, and clerical staff, and supported their cam-paigns for better contracts and working conditions.
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Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat is GSU?
Graduate Students United is an independent organi-zation of graduate students at the University of Chi-cago. It was formed in the spring of 2007 to advo-cate for better work and study conditions on campus. Our more than 700 members come from departments and divisions across the university, with strong representation in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Divinity School. We are expanding our membership in the Physical and Biological Sci-ences Divisions as well. We welcome anyone who shares our interest in organizing to improve the con-ditions we all face as students, workers, and schol-ars at the University of Chicago: teaching salaries, job availability, healthcare, parental leave, and child-care access, to name a few. As a student organiza-tion, we also participate actively in solidarity cam-paigns with other university employees and with the broader Chicago community. GSU is affiliated with both the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors.
How is GSU different from other graduate stu-dent groups on campus?
Alongside GSU, which is an independent student union, there are a number of organizations for gradu-ate students administered by the university. These include the Graduate Council, a division of Student Government, as well as a number of other groups for students in each school or division. (Click here for a full list.) Most of these groups meet on a bi-weekly or monthly basis and serve in an advisory capacity to administrators, or else they are tasked
with the distribution of funds from the Student Activi-ties Fee allocated for social events.
While these groups can serve an important function in advocating for student needs on campus, GSU was founded to meet the need for an independent voice for graduate students. Many members of GSU are active in these advisory groups, and GSU has collaborated with the Graduate Council on issues like access to healthcare, childcare and parental leave, as well as efforts to lower student fees. Yet experience has shown us the need for an autono-mous, self-governing body to represent our inter-ests as university employees, and to advocate for higher wages and access to the resources we need to thrive as scholars. We are funded completely by member dues (still just $5 per year), and organized by our members. The weekly meetings of our Organ-izing Committee are open to all members, and it’s easy to get involved in any of our campaigns or com-mittees: just drop us an email at [email protected].
What has GSU achieved so far?
Since it was founded in 2007, GSU has won a num-ber of significant improvements in graduate student life at the University of Chicago, including:
▪ a doubling of TA salaries, from $1500 to $3000 per quarter, in 2008;
▪ a substantial increase in lecturer sala-ries, from $3500 to $5000;
▪ a freeze in Advanced Residency tuition hikes;
▪ better standards of care at the U of C Student Care Center;
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▪ improvements to the university’s paren-tal leave policy for graduate students, including the right to retain their student status (and hence visa status, health insurance, and access to university facilities).
In addition to these these concrete improvements, GSU has played an important role in bringing atten-tion to graduate student concerns on campus. We have provided public forums for student voices on major university policy questions,such as health care, child care, and teaching pay and availability. We have also sought (and won) increased student representation on decision-making and advisory committees. GSU continues to call for greater trans-parency and greater student (and faculty) input in university decison-making, and we look forward to more progress on this front.
How can I join?
Membership is open to every member of the Univer-sity of Chicago community enrolled in a Master’s or Ph.D. program. Whether you’re heading into your first week or your seventh year of graduate school, there’s a place for you in GSU.
Where do my dues go?
Graduate Students United runs completely on the dues of its members, which are still, miraculously, only $5 per year. The Organizing Committee de-cides how to spend these dues at its weekly meet-ings, allocating them toward photocopying, dry erase markers and other supplies, as well as food and drinks for member meetings, and renting the occasional medical stretcher for street theater pur-poses. If you would like to have a say in how your dues are spent, please join us at the O.C. meeting.
What will my faculty advisor think if I join GSU?
In our experience, most faculty are well-disposed toward GSU and the work we do. In fact, many have expressed privately that they value the role GSU plays as a voice for student and faculty inter-ests on campus, when faculty face increasing pres-sure from administrators to avoid controversial positions. Faculty and students share many of the same concerns and interests: we want to thrive as scholars and workers on campus, to complete our degrees on schedule and to go on to the careers we’ve been preparing for. GSU’s complete fiscal and administrative independence from the univer-sity enables us to speak openly and freely on issues of concern to us. Some faculty members may be un-familiar with GSU and its aims, but many more know us well and view us as allies in making the uni-versity a better place.
That said, GSU takes extensive measures to protect the confidentiality of its members. Our membership list is stored on non-university servers, and most of our communication takes place off university serv-ers as well. If you suspect that certain faculty mem-bers in your department would not look kindly on your participation in GSU, you are welcome to keep it confidential, and so will we. Of course, we would prefer our members to be loud and proud about their involvement in GSU, but we understand that’s not always possible. If you have any hesitations on this front, we would be happy to put you in touch with other students in your department who are members, or are thinking about joining, so you can weigh the issue with them.
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2007-08 – GSU collects over 500 signa-tures on a petition for pay raises, reduced tuition and fees, and health care for gradu-ate employees; 175 students march on the Provost’s office to seek improvements in teaching salaries. In response to GSU’s or-ganizing, U of C graduate student teachers are given one-time pay raises (from $1500 to $3000 for TAs, $3500 to $5000 for in-structors).
2008-09 – GSU and student allies hold stu-dent meetings on the Student Care Center. The Vice President of Campus Life an-nounces plans for Student Care Center im-provements, including many of the recom-mendations made by GSU.
2009-10 – GSU campaigns to abolish puni-tive tuition for advanced grad students. Provost decides not to reduce tuition bur-den, which together with insurance premi-ums cost over $5000, highlighting once again the need for formal union recognition and collective bargaining. GSU members vote to affiliate with the American Federa-tion of Teachers (AFT) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
2011-12 – GSU’s national Grad Labor Counts! campaign gathers 2800 signatures on a petition urging the National Labor Re-lations Board to rule on a case regarding graduate employees’ right to unionize. GSU, in collaboration with the Student-Parent Organization, gathers 1,100 signa-tures on a petition to the University admini-stration, demanding affordable childcare for student parents and a formal parental leave policy. In response, the Provost’s of-fice announces a new parental leave pol-icy that largely matches GSU’s proposal.
2012-13 – Grievance Committee formed. Gender in Academia working group con-venes well-attended workshop. GSU stands in solidarity with the Chicago Teach-ers’ Union; responds to police brutality and hate incidents on campus; gets out the vote in SG elections; and comments on federal law governing student health plans.
2013-14 – to be determined!
(for a more detailed history, visit http://uchicagogsu.org/history/)
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Just some of the projects GSU is currently working on:
healthcare
During the 2012-2013 academic year, GSU members collaborated with students at several universities across the country to lobby the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to allow students to access the new Insurance Exchanges and thereby to access the federal subsidies included in the ACA. We also advocated for certain kinds of student health plans to be regulated according to the standards of the ACA, ensuring that no stu-dents are forced into plans with lifetime benefit caps, limits on prescription drug benefits, etc. We were successful on both fronts! This year we are planning an educational cam-paign about insurance options for 2014-15. We want to help students find insurance op-tions which may meet their needs better than U-SHIP and which will be more affordable. To get more involved, please get in touch!
contact: Jamie (jamie [email protected]) and Jacob ([email protected])
childcare
Over the past few years, GSU members have worked hard to gain access to affordable child care options for graduate student parents and for better integration of family (and other forms of life) within the University community. In coordination with our friends at the Student Parent Organization on campus, GSU members continue to work to make the Uni-versity of Chicago a more parent-friendly institution.
contact person: Claire ([email protected]) or Anna ([email protected])
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gender and academia
The gender in academia work started during the 2012-2013 academic year, and aims to im-prove the ways in which gender figures in our academic and extra-academic environment and culture. In 2013, members hosted a workshop on gender in the classroom. This com-ing year, we hope to work with the Center for Teaching and Learning to take a closer look at the educational training provided to graduate students. We also hope to continue to build a community around issues of gender among graduate students.
contact: Francey ([email protected]) and Emily ([email protected])
solidarity
Every year, GSU members work to build connections with community groups, student groups, and organized labor on campus and across the city.
contact andrew ([email protected])
student grievances
GSU members are piloting a mechanism for grievances, still in its early stages. Although GSU is not legally recognized union and therefore cannot formally represent members, we do have a lot of collective resources and collective knowledge to offer one another. This project aims to provide GSU members with a student-run resource for thinking through and dealing with grievances.
http://uchicagogsu.org/-/campaigns/grievance-committee/
contact: Duff ([email protected]), Tamara ([email protected])
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The GSU Survival Guide: a space for GSU members to share our collective wisdom with each other. Anyone can contribute to the survival guide. Visit http://gsusurvivalguide.wordpress.com/ under “crowd-sourced survival guide” and you’ll find a ready-made form designed to make it easy and fun for you to to con-tribute to the Guide. As people add to the form, results appear in real-time on the webpage!
See the next pages for some example entries from GSU’s Healthcare Committee and our partnership with the Organiza-tion of Students with Disabilities.
Interested in contributing something lengthier? As the Survival Guide grows we hope to include everything from blog posts to resource lists to member-created art. Please email us [email protected] or get in touch with your Departmental Organ-izer if you’re interested in contributing more!
with love,
GSU
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Survival Guide from GSU’s Healthcare Committee
The university health insurance plan (U-SHIP) is a pretty good insurance plan for the cost and the range of services covered, at least relative to the high cost of health insurance gen-erally. But of course there are a few things that make getting health care at the UofC a little frustrating from time to time. Don’t worry though, there are ways to make the system work for you.
• the insurance plan requires you to get your primary care from Student Health Services (SHS) (sometimes referred to as the Student Care Center). If you don’t go there first to get a referral for health services, you may be penalized by the insurance plan.
• SHS is kind of hard to find. The address is technically 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, but you actually have to enter the hospital from 59th St., at about Drexel (west of Ellis, east of Maryland). Look for a green awning next to a sign that says Cancer Center, go in there, look for a doorway to your left and head there, the SHS is just around the corner. Their number is (773) 702-4156.
• there are a number of doctors and nurse practitioners who work at SHS, some might be a good fit for you, some might not. If you meet with someone you feel comfort-able with, you can request appointments with that person when you schedule a visit. This way, you can feel like you’ve got a primary care physician who knows you and your medical history.
• if you have a regular prescription you need filled, the pharmacy in DCAM (Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine, 5758 S. Maryland Avenue, (773) 834-7002) is often cheaper than the Walgreen’s or CVS in Hyde Park.
• the SHS provides a range of preventive care (e.g., physicals, regular gyn screen-ings) at no cost. Take advantage!
• there is a new Student Health Insurance Coordinator this year, Marcy Hochberg. It is her job to help you navigate the claims process and other issues you may encounter
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when dealing with your insurance. She can answer questions about what’s covered and what’s not, what your out-of-pocket costs on procedures are, etc. Her number is 773.702.1279 and her email is [email protected].
Costs
The cost for the 2013-14 UofC U-SHIP is $3021. If you have to purchase coverage (i.e., the University is not providing it as part of your funding package or you are not covered un-der a spouse’s plan or your parents’ plan), it is currently very difficult to find other high-quality insurance options on the open market. That will change once the Illinois Health In-surance Marketplace opens in January, 2014. So beginning in the 2014-15 academic year, you will have additional options. And depending on income level, you will likely be eligible for federal subsidies to help make the premiums more affordable. With the federal subsi-dies, a graduate student earning an average salary will likely save $1000-1500 for compa-rable coverage through the IL Marketplace.
Dependent coverage is very expensive through U-SHIP. If you have children, you can look into IL All Kids (www.allkids.com), a State-subsidized program for children’s health care.
Dental/Vision
You can opt to add Dental and Vision coverage to your health care plan. Unless you think you are going to need significant dental work in the coming year, the insurance is probably not going to be cost-effective for you. For regular cleanings and x-rays, you are better off simply paying out of pocket. There is a discount card included with your U-SHIP that may get you a break on dental services from various places in the city. Many dentists will also reduce their charges if you explain that you don’t have insurance.
The vision plan, by contrast, is a pretty good deal. For a 6-month premium, you get an eye exam with only a $10 copay and significant benefits towards glasses or contact lenses. If you need vision correction, you will probably come out ahead with the vision insurance.
GSU Health Care Initiatives
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The last 2 years have been a volatile period for health care nationally. Uncertainty about the survival of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka Obamacare) at the Supreme Court level and the delay of some final regulations until this past summer has led universities around the country to be hesitant about making major changes to their health care services. Until the final rules for the ACA were in place, it wasn’t always possible to predict how the health care landscape would look. Because of this, the GSU Health Care Committee de-cided to focus our efforts on the national level, where policies affecting student health were actually being decided. Our goal was to help students gain access to more health care options at lower costs. This spring, we partnered with other grad labor groups around the country to lobby HHS to allow students to access the new Insurance Exchanges and thereby to access the federal subsidies included in the ACA. We also advocated for certain kinds of student health plans to be regulated according to the standards of the ACA, ensur-ing that no students are forced into plans with lifetime benefit caps, limits on prescription drug benefits, etc. We were successful on both fronts! This not only helps ensure that stu-dents across the country have access to high quality health care options, it also removes an incentive for universities to transition their health care offerings into lower-cost, unregu-lated plans.
This year we are planning an educational campaign about insurance options for 2014-15. We want to help students find insurance options which may meet their needs better than U-SHIP and which will be more affordable. Most graduate students who are paying their insurance premiums out of teaching salaries or other jobs will be able to get much cheaper insurance on the new IL Marketplace. But students with children or uninsured spouses/partners in particular stand to save a lot of money by getting coverage through the IL Marketplace, and they’ll get higher quality insurance there than All Kids as well. We hope to partner with local and national organizations promoting awareness about the ACA and encouraging young people to seek coverage on their State Marketplaces. If you are in-terested in getting involved, contact the GSU Healthcare Committee:
Jamie McCormick [email protected]
Jacob Blecher [email protected]
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Organization of Students with Disabilities
Partnership with the Organization of Students with Disabilities(osduchicago.org)
Who we are:The Organization of Students with Disabilities is an RSO founded in 2012 with the purpose of providing advocacy and community for students with disabilities at the University of Chi-cago. The University of Chicago lags far behind peer institutions in services and accommo-dations for students with disabilities. The OSD is working to promote greater awareness of disabilities issues on campus and is lobbying for more funding and institutional support for disabilities services, better training in disabilities accommodation for teachers and staff, and physical changes to campus buildings to make all university spaces fully accessible. The OSD welcomes both undergraduate and graduate students, including those who iden-tify as having a disability and those who would like to participate as allies who believe in creating a more accessible and disabilities-friendly university. GSU is partnering with the OSD to provide political and moral support, increased visibility, and volunteer labor for OSD projects and events.
What we’ve done so far:
• Collected data on the experience of students with disabilities from across divi-sions and disciplines in order to better identify problems and inadequacies with campus services and accommodations
• Successfully lobbied for the creation of a Student Advisory Council for the newly expanding university Student Disabilities Services office to advise on how the office might better meet students’ needs
• Served in an advising capacity in the hiring process for a new Associate Director of Student Disability Services
• Worked with the Center for Teaching and Learning to add a workshop on Teach-ing Students with Disabilities to their regular program of teaching workshops
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• Successfully petitioned the university to correct inaccurate Braille signs on cam-pus
• Worked with CAPS to provide disability specific career advising and career op-portunity events
• Won a Graduate Student Innovation Fund award from the Provost’s Office to fund a lecture series on campus
What we’re doing now:
• Organizing a programming series called “Disability Matters” to raise awareness and prompt discussion about the issues facing graduate students with disabilities. The series will include three public lectures by leading scholars in the field of disability stud-ies, including Rosemarie Garland-Thomson and Robert McRuer
• Organizing a Disability Awareness/Pride/History week
• Continuing our work with the Center for Teaching and Learning to improve and expand workshops on teaching students with disabilities
• Putting together a curriculum and resource guide for graduate instructors and professors who want more information on disabilities accommodation and how to make their classes more accessible
• Working with the Writing Program to add a session on teaching students with disabilities to their writing intern training program
• Building a map of the places on campus that are not yet fully accessible
How you can help:
• Come to a “Disability Matters” lecture and bring all of your friends with you. Our first lecture will be Rosemarie Garland-Thomson , “Why Disability? Or, Who Should and Should Not Inhabit the World” on Thursday, November 14 at 4:30 PM in Classics 110.
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• Volunteer for one of our “Disability Matters” events or to help out with Disability Awareness Week
• Attend a teaching workshop to learn how to better accommodate students with disabilities in your current and future teaching work
• Tell us where you get your teaching training in your department/program. Our goal is that all graduate students will have some kind of training in teaching and working with students with disabilities before they start their teaching work on campus. But in or-der to do this, we need to know where students in different divisions and programs get their teaching training. How can we best provide this service to students in your pro-gram?
• Tell us about your experiences with disabilities on campus. Are there particular services or accommodations that you think would be helpful to you that you aren’t get-ting? Can you help us identify particular buildings or spaces on campus that may not be fully accessible to someone with a physical disability?
• Help us to develop our resource materials on teaching students with disabilities. We need information and experiences from people with a wide range of disabilities so our training materials can cover as many circumstances as possible. If you have a disabil-ity, tell us more about how you typically do standard class-related tasks. What have teachers done that has been helpful for you? Are there particular accommodations you can suggest as standard practices that may be helpful when teaching someone with your disability? We would also like to hear from graduate students who have experience teaching students with disabilities. Were there situations or tasks you weren’t sure how to handle? In your attempts to modify your standard teaching practices to make your classes more accessible, are there any techniques or practices that you think were par-ticularly successful?
• Lend your voice and your vote in support of better disabilities awareness and accommodation on campus. GSU can help keep you informed when there is a particular campaign, issue, or election that you can support.
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Check out our new website at osduchicago.org. You can also come to one of our weekly Conversation Groups which happen every Tuesday from 4:30-5:30 PM at 5710 Woodlawn. The Conversation Group is a regular, informal forum for students with disabilities to come and chat in a supportive environment. Build relationships, support one another, brain-storm, shoot the breeze.
Contact Info:OSD leaders:Margaret [email protected]
Stephen [email protected]
GSU liaison:Hannah [email protected]
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1. BECOME A MEMBER!
2. Learn more about GSU by talking to your Departmental Or-ganizer (email [email protected] if you don’t know your DO).
3. Tell us which issues matter to you, what you need to improve your quality of life as a graduate employee and student by sub-mitting to our crowd-sourced Survival Guide ( http://gsusurvivalguide.wordpress.com/crowd-sourced-survival-guide/) or talking with your Department Organizers.
4. Support GSU advocacy drives for causes you believe in by signing petitions, volunteering to table, and coming to rallies and other events.
5. Participate in quarterly all-members meetings where we dis-cuss where we want to go as a union; join one of GSU’s advo-cacy campaigns by joining the Organizing Committee (email [email protected] for meeting time and locations).
6. Become a Departmental Organizer to take the lead in expand-ing membership and participation in your department and divi-sion
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