“It’s sort of strange to be paying for the ability to work,” said Representative Ruben Moreno as the Teaching Assistants’ Association returned to work with the 25th session to halt the mandatory segregated fees policy.
While some voiced sentiments of support, other representatives of the Associated Students of Madison grew apprehensive about the financial aspects of eliminating the segregated fee, as well as the fairness of expectation for all students on campus to pay it.
Student Services Finance Committee Chair Jeremy Swanson stated that the graduate student segregated fees make up about $10 million in revenue for the campus. He noted his concerns of where those funds would come from if the students did not pay the fees.
“So, even though $10 million seems like a lot, in research dollars and other sources of revenue it isn’t really that much,” Moreno said. “Ultimately, if the money isn’t there then ... nothing comes of this, but this is a stepping stone to give the TAA some bargaining power as they take this to the faculty senate.”
This was not the only concern that lingered in the air as Representative Jared Lang noted the expectation surrounding the contrasting obligation of undergraduates paying segregated fees to graduate students not paying them.
“It’s not that graduate students aren’t paying for it,” Moreno said. “Ultimately, we do work and provide service to the university and help secure those funds.”
After thorough debate, questions remain for the mandatory segregated fee policy for the graduate students from ASM.
In the previous session, ASM unanimously voted to back the Teaching Assistants’ Association as they organized against the mandatory segregated fee policy.
In March 2018, hundreds of graduate students and supportive allies filled Bascom Hill in protest of the current mandatory segregated fees payment method.
This form of payment seeks that graduate students pay for the segregated fees prior to their first paycheck. These mandatory fees account for various campus services, ranging from bus passes to University Health Services.
“It is in response to a change that was made last year in May 2017, in regards to the university attempting to force graduate students to pay all of student fees prior to the start of the academic term,” said Rob Timberlake, co-chair of the Stewards’ Council of the TAA.
Graduate students pay over $1,200 in segregated fees annually, which accounts for 10 percent of their paycheck. If students are unable to pay the fee in full, they are allowed to enroll in a payment plan separated into three installments for an extra fifty-dollar fee.
The TAA is searching to get rid of the fee entirely, but the general hope is to allow graduate students to have more opportunities to work on their research and return home instead of being concerned about money.
“We’re hoping to support this issue as well as continue to advocate for greater pay for graduate assistants, so that international students can return home to their families and teachers’ assistants don’t have to pick up multiple jobs and focus as much as possible on their graduate courses,” Timberlake said.
Conversations between ASM, the Faculty Senate and the TAA have proved fruitful as they have been willing to work together and uncover the best plan that works for graduate workers.
“For some of us, paying these fees on time comes at the cost of accumulating more credit card debit or falling behind in rent payments,” said Adria Brooks, a member of the TAA. “The resolutions currently in front of ASM and Faculty Senate are important for the students we teach and the faculty we work for to show their respect for and solidarity with graduate workers.”
However, the current payment policy does not show the change most graduate students were working for, according to Brooks.
After a long discussion, ASM opted to not vote on the resolution. This will be debated again in two weeks at the next meeting.
