Takeaway: Stand with our grads on Tuesday, April 12, from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. and urge the Rutgers Board of Governors to commit to funding extensions for graduate students whose work and research has been disrupted by the pandemic. Let us know you’re coming by clicking here to RSVP.
Dear colleague,
Our grads are calling on us to join them outside the Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday, April 12, at 11 a.m. to call on the Governors, President Holloway, and the Rutgers administration to commit to extending funding for graduate students whose work and research has been disrupted by the ongoing pandemic. The administration has refused to continue the Academic Advancement Program from last year, claiming there is no need for additional support from the central administration because departments are taking care of grads’ funding needs. This contradicts the experiences of many grad students who were ineligible for previous funding cycles and now face the loss of financial support and health insurance for next year. If the university truly believes in supporting graduate education and degree completion, it must properly support these students.
The Board of Governors meeting is our best opportunity to speak directly to the people in power who control our grad colleagues’ futures.
We’re asking everyone our union represents to help us make sure grad voices are heard by the Board of Governors:
- Join us on Tuesday, April 12, at 11 a.m. to meet and address Board members and the administration directly, as they enter Winants Hall for the meeting. Grads will be distributing leaflets that include our testimonials to the administration, students, and the community.
- Sign up to speak to the Board directly during the virtual public portion of the meeting after 1 p.m. For detailed instructions to sign up, see the RSVP form or review the instructions here.
- Look out for our email writing campaign that will launch after the Board meeting.
This action is an opportunity for us to come together and demand that Rutgers recognize that the pandemic has affected all graduate students, regardless of where they are in their programs. Winning centrally funded extensions won’t end the precarity that Rutgers forces on graduate workers, but it will avoid an immediate layoff and loss of health insurance for hundreds of our colleagues. This is a fight for faculty and postdocs, too: our teaching, research, and service depend on collaboration with grads, and we can’t build strong graduate programs without supporting these students. If the administration doesn’t extend grad funding, it will impact all of us negatively.
Please plan to join us and show your solidarity. Click here to RSVP so we know you are coming—and then invite your colleagues and plan to attend together.
Getting there: Winants Hall is located across from Barnes and Noble and the New Brunswick train station on Somerset Street. If you are driving and have a Rutgers parking pass, we recommend that you park behind the College Avenue Student Center. Winants is a short walk up College Avenue. There is also available meter parking on surrounding streets.
In solidarity,
Alex, Sarah, Becky, and Todd
Alexandra Adams, Vice President for Graduate Workers, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Sarah DeGiorgis, Graduate Worker Steering Committee and Executive Council, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rebecca Givan, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Todd Wolfson, General Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
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