Letter of Support
NYS Legislature
Dear members of the NYS Legislature,
As faculty, staff, undergraduate students, and other members of the SUNY community, we are writing in strong support of ending mandatory fees for graduate student employees who serve as SUNY Teaching, Graduate, and Research assistants.
These grad workers are involved in all aspects of this campus, from teaching courses to grading exams and papers to mentoring students, to conducting cutting edge research. Our university quite literally could not function without them. But despite all of this, they face dire financial challenges by paying 10-20% of their annual income in fees back to their employer. This pay-to-work system must end.
Our state's public institutions are becoming critically underfunded, leading the SUNY system to increasingly rely on graduate students for their labor without providing relief for the fees they must pay. A substantial portion of their income that should go towards paying rent, buying groceries, or making car payments is instead funneled back to their employer in the form of fees. Compounding the issue, these fees must be paid upfront; the alternative is a payment plan that spreads out fee payments while incurring additional fees.
In other words, the SUNY system charges these workers to do their jobs, and then charges more if they can’t afford it. Every year graduate employees take out loans, skip meals, and even sell blood plasma just to make ends meet. The state’s higher education institutions cannot close their funding gaps on the backs of graduate workers, who already struggle to pay for basic needs.
We are asking the NYS Legislature to include language in the FY2021 budget that would waive these fees for graduate student workers serving a minimum of a half-time appointment. S.3916 filed by Chairwoman Stavisky and A.7241 filed by Assemblymember Pichardo would do just that: exempt all SUNY graduate workers employed as Teaching Assistants, Graduate Assistants, and Research Assistants from paying university fees. This bill passed the Senate unanimously last year and we are asking you to include this language in the budget this year.
Sincerely,
Sponsored by
To:
NYS Legislature
From:
[Your Name]
Dear members of the NYS Legislature,
As faculty, staff, undergraduate students, and other members of the SUNY community, we are writing in strong support of ending mandatory fees for graduate student employees who serve as SUNY Teaching, Graduate and Research assistants.
These grad workers are involved in all aspects of this campus, from teaching courses to grading exams and papers to mentoring students, to conduct cutting edge research. Our university quite literally could not function without them. But despite all of this, they face dire financial challenges by paying 10-20% of their annual income in fees back to their employer. This pay-to-work system must end.
Our state's public institutions are becoming critically underfunded, leading to the SUNY system increasingly rely on graduate students for their labor without providing relief for the fees they must pay. A substantial portion of their income that should go towards paying rent, buying groceries, or making car payments is instead funneled back to their employer in the form of fees. Compounding the issue, these fees must be paid upfront; the alternative is a payment plan that spreads out fee payments while incurring additional fees.
In other words, the SUNY system charges these workers to do their jobs, and then charges more if they can’t afford it. Every year graduate employees take out loans, skip meals, and even sell blood plasma just to make ends meet. The state’s higher education institutions cannot close their funding gaps on the backs of graduate workers, who already struggle to pay for basic needs.
We are asking the NYS Legislature to include language in the FY2021 budget that would waive these fees for graduate student workers serving a minimum of a half-time appointment. S.3916 filed by Chairwoman Stavisky and A.7241 filed by Assemblymember Pichardo would do just that: exempt all SUNY graduate workers employed as Teaching Assistants, Graduate Assistants, and Research Assistants from paying university fees. This bill passed the Senate unanimously last year and we are asking you to include this language included in the budget this year.
Sincerely,