Petition for a $6000 raise and increase to the tuition reduction benefit

University of Texas Board of Regents and President Gregory Fenves

We, the undersigned, urge President Gregory Fenves and the University of Texas Board of Regents to approve a $6000 across-the-board pay raise for UT employees, with part-time employees such as graduate students receiving a prorated amount based on number of hours worked. Additionally, we urge the University Budget Council , as a first step toward aligning graduate student stipends with the cost of living in Austin, to adjust the Tuition Reduction Benefit (TRB) to meet the price of tuition within each college and department.

- The TRB has remained at $3784 (for 9 credit hours) since at least 2011. The current average cost of graduate tuition is $4855. The difference between the cost of tuition and the TRB is, on average, $1000+ per student per semester. As the price of tuition continues to increase and the TRB gap remains unchanged, more and more departments are passing the cost of the gap onto students.

- In 2003, when the Texas Legislature deregulated tuition, it also passed the responsibility for giving raises and cost of living adjustments on to the Board of Regents. Though UT-Austin's Available University Fund (AUF) received $373 million from its endowment in 2018, employees have not seen an across-the-board raise since 2002 and tuition continues to rise regardless.

UT has the resources and ability to give every employee an across-the-board pay raise, and to support its graduate students as their professional and academic development. If the University wants to attract and retain world-class faculty, staff, and students, it must support all its employees - from administration staff and adjuncts to custodians and graduate workers - particularly in rapidly growing and increasingly-expensive Austin.
Sponsored by
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Texas State Employees Union
Austin, TX

To: University of Texas Board of Regents and President Gregory Fenves
From: [Your Name]

We, the undersigned, urge President Gregory Fenves and the University of Texas Board of Regents to approve a $6000 across-the-board pay raise for UT employees, with part-time employees such as graduate students receiving a prorated amount based on number of hours worked. Additionally, we urge the University Budget Council , as a first step toward aligning graduate student stipends with the cost of living in Austin, to adjust the Tuition Reduction Benefit (TRB) to meet the price of tuition within each college and department.

- The TRB has remained at $3784 (for 9 credit hours) since at least 2011. The current average cost of graduate tuition is $4855. The difference between the cost of tuition and the TRB is, on average, $1000+ per student per semester. As the price of tuition continues to increase and the TRB gap remains unchanged, more and more departments are passing the cost of the gap onto students.

- In 2003, when the Texas Legislature deregulated tuition, it also passed the responsibility for giving raises and cost of living adjustments on to the Board of Regents. Though UT-Austin's Available University Fund (AUF) received $373 million from its endowment in 2018, employees have not seen an across-the-board raise since 2002 and tuition continues to rise regardless.

UT has the resources and ability to give every employee an across-the-board pay raise, and to support its graduate students as their professional and academic development. If the University wants to attract and retain world-class faculty, staff, and students, it must support all its employees - from administration staff and adjuncts to custodians and graduate workers - particularly in rapidly growing and increasingly-expensive Austin.