The document discusses the rights of graduate student employees (GSEs) at universities. It states that GSEs, including teaching assistants and research assistants, are considered employees when they perform paid work for the university. As such, they have rights like academic freedom, fair wages, employment security, collective bargaining, and unionization without reprisal. The document was approved by the Canadian Association of University Teachers and advocates for GSEs' rights.
3. GTA (1800) GSE Total Graduate Student population (4400) Graduate Student Identity
4. GTA (1800) GSE Total Graduate Student population Graduate Student Identity
5. GTA (1800) GSE Total Graduate Student population Graduate Student Identity
6. Source: Engaging the Future: Final Report of the Task Force on Strategic Planning (2006) (available from www.uwo.ca/univsec/strategic_plan/report/01.htm)
7. Adapted from Engaging the Future: Final Report of the Task Force on Strategic Planning (2006) (available from www.uwo.ca/univsec/strategic_plan/report/01.htm) Annual PhD Degrees Awarded at UWO Year projected past
8. Adapted from Engaging the Future: Final Report of the Task Force on Strategic Planning (2006) (available from www.uwo.ca/univsec/strategic_plan/report/01.htm) Annual Masters Degrees Awarded at UWO Year projected past
9. Source: Engaging the Future: Final Report of the Task Force on Strategic Planning (2006) (available from www.uwo.ca/univsec/strategic_plan/report/01.htm)
11. still non - union ?? GSE GSE GSE GSE GSE GSE GSE TA TA GTA Union
12. GSE union GSE GSE GSE GSE GSE GSE GSE TA TA GTA Union
13.
14.
15.
Notas del editor
The Public Service Alliance of Canada and Western’s GTA Union are introducing a new campaign to protect the rights of graduate students and to enhance the student experience at UWO.<number>
The current graduate student population at UWO is about 4400, and is depicted as the area bound by the red circle. The only recognized student employee group on campus is the GTA Union representing about 1800 graduate teaching assistants (blue circle). These are a subset of the total Graduate student employees (GSEs) on campus, as depicted by the broken circle. This latter group is currently ill-defined. (Externally funded scholarship recipients make up only X% of the total)Currently, there are about 2600 graduate students at UWO who receive financial support from sources other than holding a GTA. The work that graduate students do contributes to the University of Western Ontario’s two mandates (shared by all universities): teaching and research. In some cases graduate students also do administrative work that contributes directly to UWO, as well as freeing up professors’ time to devote to teaching and research.Also, note that in many cases those with GTA assignments hold this for only part of the year and often perform other duties as a GSE for which they may or may not be paid.<number>
<number>
The number of total graduate students at UWO will expand rapidly in the next ten years but the number of GTAs will likely not grow larger and may even shrink slightly because undergraduate enrolment will not increase. Thus, with rapid expansion of UWO’s graduate programs, we can expect more and more of the graduate students to be employed in ill-defined GSE roles and in need of union representation.How can we make these “predictions” . . .<number>
. . . Because UWO has published its long-term plan to position UWO as a research-intensive university. This is described in the 2006 report Engaging the Future:(available as a pdf from www.uwo.ca/univsec/strategic_plan/report/01.htm. One of the University’s goals is to hold the undergraduate population near current levels by capping first year admissions to 4350 new students per year until at least 2016. We contend that with the undergraduate population at UWO frozen, the past growth in GTA union membership will not continue. In fact, the number of Graduate Teaching Assistants positions available will stay the same or perhaps even decrease.As we noted previously, more than half of Western’s graduates students currently are not supported by Graduate Teaching Assistantships. We can expect that the grad student population will become increasingly reliant on alternative forms of financial support.<number>
Another publicly stated goal of UWO is to increase double PhD enrolments by year 2016 from year 2006 levels. As seen here PhD enrolment at UWO has increased steadily. Currently about 200 PhDs graduate each year from UWO. By 2016 we can expect about 400 PhDs to enter the job market from UWO each year.In fact, all 13 PhD granting universities in Ontario are committed to doubling their PhD enrolments by 2016, with the financial support of the Ontario Government.7
As you can see here, there has been strong growth in Master’s degree enrolments at UWO, with a 50% increase in these enrolments planned by 2016.8
Shown here are the completion rates among large research-intensive Canadian Universities. These are typical of PhD completion rates in Canada.Even after nine years, only about two thirds of PhD students will complete their degree. (Compare this with the well over 95% completion rates of medical and law schools). Most of the attrition is due to personal economic factors. To support themselves after their funding has run dry, students often quit outright or take full-time jobs that lengthen time of completion, and many of these also later drop out. The finances of PhDs in the arts and humanities are more precarious and these fields have lower completion rates.Therefore as PhD (and Masters) enrolments increase, we believe universities will be under pressure to ensure completion rates do not fall too low due to financial constraints on students. How low they are willing to let completion rates fall, and where they will get extra funding to ensure sufficient graduate student success rates remains to be determined.Currently over half of UWO’s graduate students are supported by means other than GTA assignments. With the number of future GTA assignments likely to remain constant or decline, more and more graduate students will be supported by other means. These Graduate Student Employees are therefore facing a more precarious future and need the protection and benefits provided by unionization.8
We are conducting a survey of Graduate student employment activities outside of their teaching roles and their own thesis- based research. We are asking all graduate students to complete this confidential survey. If you answer “Yes” to any of the questions, you may have an employee relationship with UWO, depending on which questions and how you answered YES. This is particularly true if you work as a research assistant, but other work roles may qualify you.In any case, we ask for your support in establishing a Graduate Student Employee union, to be a separate bargaining unit of the GTA union local 610. As a new bargaining unit, GSEs will have the strength to negotiate a better deal now and for their future.12
![[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)