Earlier this week, GAAC held our first Administrative-only Meet and Confer (M&C) session. Aside from two GAAC representatives, attendees included the Dean of the CNMS, the Dean of the Graduate School, and Department Chairs from the Physics, Math, Biology, and Chemistry departments. During this session, we addressed several critical issues identified as priorities from CNMS GA’s through our recent survey. These topics include:
Advisor-GA Relationships
GA Stipends and Mandatory Fees
GA Contract and Workload Concerns
Transit and Parking Issues
For more information on the specific topics discussed, please see the attached slides.
I am pleased to report that the majority of attendees provided favorable responses to each of these issues. Particularly noteworthy was the support received for the implementation of mandatory mentor training sessions for faculty and establishing accountability measures for GA exploitation issues.
Looking ahead, GAAC remains committed to advocating for the establishment of proper systems and procedures within the Graduate School to address these concerns, as agreed upon during the M&C discussion.
We are looking forward to continuing these productive discussions in the upcoming M&C discussions for the COEIT and CAHSS.