April 14, 1998
Dear President Levin,
We are writing on behalf of graduate students and teachers across the three divisions of the graduate school, the Humanities, the Sciences and the Social Sciences. For the past three months, groups of graduate students have met with various administrators seeking resolution to the following issues of concern:
- health care for graduate students with dependents
- health care coverage for graduate students doing research outside New Haven
- health care for Part-Time Acting Instructors working over 20 hours/week
- a health plan that includes dental care
- an office of multicultural affairs to create a more supportive environment for graduate students from diverse backgrounds
- a parental leave policy and subsidies for child care to create a more supportive environment for graduate students with families
- more institutional support and resources for international students
- equitable job descriptions that are implemented fairly across departments
- smaller section sizes
- more affordable university housing for graduate students
Graduate students have met with Associate Dean Deborah Thomas, Associate Dean Richard Sleight, Lisa Brandes, the Director of the MacDougal Center, Paul Genecin, the Director of the Yale Health Plan, and the Dean of the Graduate School, Thomas Appelquist. We have also met with department chairs to discuss these issues. As Assembly representatives, many of us have been able to discuss and comment on these concerns, but we have seen little progress.
When our efforts were unsuccessful at these levels, GESO began circulating a petition calling on your office to address this group of concerns. We seek some mechanism for real negotiations, and the commitment that any resolution we reach will be secured in the form of a written and binding agreement. Enclosed you will find a petition signed by more than 1,000 graduate students from the Humanities, the Sciences, and the Social Sciences, over a majority of the graduate students in residence in this academic year. The petition reads:
I believe that Yale University should negotiate in good faith, with graduate students, a written and binding agreement governing graduate school policies including, but not limited to, the terms of the Teaching Fellows program and health care benefits. I call upon Yale to begin these negotiations before March 31, 1998.
Please note that the deadline has been extended to May 1st. We sincerely hope that there can be communication, negotiations, and written resolution on these issues before the end of the semester.
Thank you.
The GESO Coordinating Committee
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This page was last updated on: November 30, 1999 |
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Graduate Employees and Students Organization |
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