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Attention Graduate Assistants: Congratulations, you've earned a raise!
As you may have heard, our new contract was reconsidered by the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education on Monday evening and was passed unanimously! This means you may be eligible for retroactive payment for your assistantship going back to September 1, 2011. We are eagerly awaiting further instructions and details from the administration, but in the meantime, we need your updated contact information so we can get your check to you as soon as possible.
To update your contact information, you can go directly to e-campus and update your profile with your most recent information. If you have recently graduated, please email Graduate Assistants UNITED directly at uri.gau@gmail.com. We will need your student ID, graduation date, mailing address, and the best email address to reach you at in case we need to get in touch with you in short order.
As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact the GAU at uri.gau@gmail.com, or call us at 401.874.2826. You can also swing by our office on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer in Roosevelt Hall, Room 307.
Thank you to all who were involved in the negotiating process for your hard work!
Congratulations!
Danielle Dirocco
President, Graduate Assistants UNITED
GAU’s 2011-2014 Tentative Agreement
(1) Parking - for full-time GAs the commuter parking fee is still waived. This is applicable to the fall and spring. Also, GAs may park in the lots listed in our contract from 4:30p - 6:00a! Also GAs can park in the lot at the corner of Flagg Rd. and Plains Rd. This is the Residential lot, not the one attached to the Surge Building.
(2)For those of you who were GAs in Fall 2011,$400 will be added to each stipend level. For the spring, $450 will be added to each level, for the 2012-2013 academic year,$600 will be added to each level, and finally, in the 2013-2014 academic year,$500will be added to each level.
(3) The GAU and the Administration have agreed to create a committee to research the feasibility of guaranteed GA funding. Basically, we want to know what schools offer guaranteed funding to GAs, and how the language is worded.
Language Changes
Article 3.1 to be amended as follows:
3.1 The Board and the GAU agree not to discriminate in any way against employees covered by this Agreement on account of race, sex, religion, political affiliation or beliefs, age, color, creed, national origin, disability, gender identity and expression, or sexual orientation, in accordance with applicable State and Federal laws; nor will there be discrimination in respect to hiring and retention or any condition of employment because of membership in or activities on behalf of GAU.
Article 21.5 Bereavement Leave to be amended as follows:
21.5 BEREAVEMENT LEAVE. Graduate assistants shall be granted four (4) days leave with full pay for the death in the immediate family. Immediate family shall include father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, son, daughter, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandmother, grandfather, grandchildren, domestic partner, civil union partner, and any person living in the employee’s household.
President’s Message
Stephen Marchand
On behalf of the Graduate Assistants United (GAU), congratulations on your acceptance to the Graduate School and the assistantship you have been offered.
The GAU is your organization – the organization that represents the interests of all graduate assistants (560 assistants) at the University of Rhode island. Since voting for recognition in 2002, the GAU has been responsible for securing an employment contract with the Board of Governors for Higher Education that includes salary increases, tuition waivers, paid health insurance, a 20% discount in mandatory fees, and other important employment benefits. A negotiating committee, which is comprised of graduate assistants, has been negotiating an extension of the current contract in this past summer.
As a graduate assistant, you are automatically represented for collective bargaining by the GAU. All graduate assistants are required to pay an agency fee of .81% of your salary, which will be deducted from your paycheck on a biweekly basis.
Although you are represented by the GAU, you are not automatically a member. Membership in the GAU/AAUP requires that you sign a membership card. Being a registered GAU member enables you to hold executive committee positions, vote on GAU issues, such as ratification the contracts, and allows you the opportunity to apply for GAU funded research and travel grants. There is no additional fee for signing a card!
Finally, participation in the association is very important. Attendance at meetings and events demonstrates the strength of our group. Please consider serving your academic department as a GAU steward. As steward, you will serve as a liaison between the GAU and assistants in your department. It’s a great way to become involved with the GAU. Please contact the GAU with questions or if you’re interested in becoming a steward, and visit the website or Facebook page regularly for upcoming events.
April 27, 2010
General Membership Meeting's Guest Speaker Dan Bass from Ocean State Action
On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, the GAU held their annual Spring General Membership Meeting/Election at the University Club. Members participated in electing the 2010-11 GAU Executive Committee, listened to guest speaker Dan Bass form Ocean State Action and enjoyed a wonderfully prepared meal. Dan spoke on how his organization was able to effect change in the General Assembly by helping elect progressive candidates get elected who now submit legislation that assists the working people of our state. He also encouraged attendees to become active in campaigns that interest them and passed around a sign-up sheet for those who would like to join in OSA campaigns.
Congratulations to the newly elected GAU Officers:
President - Stephen Marchand, English
Vice President - Courtney Schmidt, GSO
Treasurer, Jack Szczepanski, Biology
Secretary - Timothy Amidon, Writing and Rhetoric
Don’t Mourn, Organize
For the past fifteen years, the state of Rhode Island has contracted with the University of Rhode Island to fund approximately ten graduate assistants in the physical therapy department in exchange for each providing ten hours a week of physical therapy to patients at Eleanor Slater Hospital, which houses patients with acute and long-term medical illness, as well as those with psychiatric disorders. But that funding was eliminated in the last round of state budget cuts. Those students are without funding and the patients are without physical therapy.
—Report of a union activist at the University of Rhode Island
By Cary Nelson
Announcements
Health Services Hours of Operation
Winter Break Schedule
Medical Services/Clinic Hours during break:
Tuesday, January 4th – Friday, January 7th from 11 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Monday, January 10th – Friday, January 14th from 11 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, January 18th – Friday, January 21st from 11 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. (closed Monday, January 17th in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Day).
Semester Schedule
Monday-Friday: 8:00 am - 8:00pm
Appointments: 9:00 am to 7:30 pm
Weekends & Holidays: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Physician Services: 12:00-4:00 pm
Pharmacy: 12:30 to 4:00 pm
Nursing, Medical Records: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Quick Contacts:
Routine Exams, Allergy Shots? 874-4751
Emergency? 874-2121
Not feeling well, need urgent care? 874-2675
Immunizations? 874-4612
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Board of Governors Meeting:
Monday, January 24, 2010
RIC Ballroom
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President's Column
President Stephen Marchand
MEETINGS
General Membership Meeting -
Spring General membership Meeting - TBA in April