WHEREAS, according to aggregate data from Student Ratings of Teaching collected by the

Office of Measurement Services, between 2008 and 2013graduate instructors and teaching
assistants outperformed faculty in their ratings in virtuallyeverycategory,andmoregenerally
graduate teaching and research assistants play pivotal rolesattheUniversitywithhighlevels
of success, and yet manyare compensated less than similar instructionalor researchroles,1
and

WHEREAS,
preABD, noninternational graduateassistantsmustpayfully between$944and
$1254 over an academic year in extra tuitional fees, the third highest fees among Big 10
peers,2 and

WHEREAS, in every case since 2005 the most significant contributors to increasingfees for
graduate assistants (at least noninternational students), and in some cases as high as of
increases, have comefromincreases in CollegiateFees,the CapitalEnhancementFee,3 and
theRecreationandWellnessportionoftheStudentServicesFee,4 and

WHEREAS,
some evidence suggests that despite being assessed at the same rates as
undergraduate students, the level of service provided by some of these extratuitional fees
may have lower interest, enthusiasm, or access among graduate and professional students
thanundergraduatestudentsforexample:
a COGS survey suggested that only 38% of graduate and professional students
surveyedusedtheRecreationandWellnessCenteroverthecourseoftheyearprior5
capital enhancement funding only potentially benefits future students, has in the past
been used to fund the expansion of the East Bank Recreation Center and may be
used to expand a future West Bank Recreation center, which may also result in
increasedStudentServicesFees
a Student Unions and Activities survey showed that whereas 60% of undergraduate
students use Coffman Memorial Union once a week or more, only about 20% of
graduate students do, and whereas of undergraduates are likely or very likely to
recommend a Student Unions and Activities event to other students, only 40% of
graduateandprofessionalstudentsarelikelyto6
a COGS survey showed that only about 15% of graduate students surveyed have
used TCF Bank Stadium in the last year,7 and it is unclear that access to free first
1

EmailfromDanielGlover(OfficeofMeasurementServices)toAndrewMcNally,SRTGTA/Grad
InstructorDataApril142015
2

http://onestop.umn.edu/pdf/tuition_grad_new201415.pdf
Notethatthisincludesaremissionof$70persemesterprovidedbythegraduateassistanthealthplan
3
COGSFeeReport,p11
http://www.cogs.umn.edu/docs/publications/FeesCommitteeReport.pdf
4
ComparingdatafromFinalRecommendationsonStudentServicesFeewebsite
http://www.studentservicesfees.umn.edu/historical.html
5
COGSSurveySpring2014,resultsforthcoming
6
StudentUnionsandActivitiesSurveyData,sentinemailfromDennyOlsenJune112014
7
COGSSurveySpring2014,resultsforthcoming

home game tickets, as provided to undergraduates, will be extended in the future to

graduateandprofessionalstudents,
a collegiate feeintheCollegeofLiberal Artsis60%for thepurposesofundergraduate
advising,whichgraduatestudentscannotaccess,8 and

WHEREAS, at 50% of the base minimum salary fora graduate assistant over the course of
an academic year,9 many graduate assistants may pay between 9 and 12% of theirstipends
backtotheUniversityintheformoffees,and

WHEREAS,
adjusted for cost of living, compared to 12 other Big 10 institutions (excluding
Indiana University and Northwestern University, for which data was unavailable) the take
home pay for graduate assistants in colleges paying most assistants at thelowest level in
particular, theCollegeofLiberalArtsandtheCollege ofEducationandHumanDevelopment
ranked last at the 50% base minimum salary over the course of an academic year only to
Rutgers University, where graduate assistantships at 50% are limited to no more than 15
hoursperweek,10 and

WHEREAS,
subtracting graduate tuition and reimbursements for Boynton Health Service
provided through HealthPartners, one University OneStop site recommends that a graduate
student should expect to live on $16,300 over an academic year,11 which, adding taxes for
Social SecurityandMedicare,wouldamounttoroughly$3440morethanagraduateassistant
is compensated for at the base minimum payfora50%assistantship(hereafter,thelivability
gapforgraduateassistants),and

WHEREAS, thetakehomepayforpreABDgraduateassistantsoverthe39.5weekstheyare
paid is currently $155 less than working a 40 hour per week, $8 an hour minimum wage job
over thesameperiod,suggestingthatworkingataminimum wagepositionformanygraduate
students may offer a more competitive financial opportunity than a graduate assistantship
paidattheminimumsalary,and

WHEREAS, borrowing thelivability gap of $3440 over a 6yeardoctoralprogramwouldcost

greater than $20,000, which in repayment would require a salary greater than a 12 month,
100% adjunct appointment at theUniversityofMinnesota,12 andsubstantialproportionsofthe
graduate assistant population are unable to borrow federal loans because they are
internationalstudents,and

AppendixDCollegiateFeesentfromBrentGustafsonbyemailJuly24,2014

http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/pay/salaries/1415floors/index.html
10
Seeappendixforthissourcedata
11
http://onestop.umn.edu/finances/costs_and_tuition/cost_of_attendance/?year=201415&residency=nonres
ident&program=graduate

12
Forsalarydataforadjuncts
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/pay/salaries/1415floors/index.html
9

WHEREAS, 4770% of graduate assistants in broad programmatic areas within the lowest
paid colleges, the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Education and Human
Development, work hours beyond their assistantship, much of which in light of significantly
lowerratesinothercolleges,likelycomesfromthelivabilitygap,13 and

WHEREAS, at an $8 an hour minimum wage position, working off the livability gap from a 5
year degree would require greater than 52 weeks of 40 houraweekworkweeks,suggesting
that the livability gap, and the fees that represent the livability gap, may actually keep
graduate assistants in their degree longer and cost departments and colleges more funding
thangrantinghigherwages,and

WHEREAS, offering graduate assistants who pay the student services fee that funds the
recreation and wellness center wellness plan incentives to use the recreation center may
result in real reductions in the total health insurance costs for graduate assistants and
thereforethetotalcostsofgraduateassistants,and

WHEREAS, reducing fees, particularly for nonrecurring purposes, on graduate assistants

may be the most costeffectiveandefficientmeansforraisinggraduateassistantstakehome
paytomorelivablelevels,and

WHEREAS, the University of Minnesotahasrecentlybeguntopursueaprogramforreducing

thedebtburdenfromTCFBankduetolowerinterestrates,and

WHEREAS,
noreductionintheleveloffeesforgraduateassistantsshould
result in increased total cost of attendance for undergraduate or graduate and
professionalstudents
reduce support for graduateassistants in general, in particularthose who are already
wellpaid
reduce the competitiveness in appearance or reality of assistantship packages for
departments
createanyundueorunnecessaryincreasesinthecostoffundingagraduateassistant
resultinsignificantlossofemploymentforUniversityofMinnesotaworkers
resultinfewerappointmentsforgraduateassistantsoverall
placeunduefinancialburdenonanyadministrativeunit,collegiateunit,ordepartment

THEREFOREBEITRESOLVED,
theCouncilofGraduateStudents

h
ttp://www.cogs.umn.edu/docs/survey/COGS%20Survey%20Report%20Final%20Draft.pdf
p99
13

 calls on President Eric Kaler and Vice President Richard Pfutzenreuter to propose to
the Board of Regents eliminating the Capital Enhancement and Stadium Fees as
appliedtoallstudentsenrolledattheUniversityofMinnesotaTwinCities,
calls on the Recreation and Wellness Center to work with HealthPartners to allow
preABD graduate assistants to receive reimbursement in the amount of $20 per
month for the portion of the Student Services Fee when they attend the Recreation
Centermorethan12timespermonth,
asks that relevant units design a plan for collecting revenue saved centrally by
decreasing costs of graduate assistant health program consequent from the
implementation of the Wellness portion of the Graduate Assistant Health Plan to be
redistributedtodepartmentalandcollegiateunits,
calls on Vice Provost Danita BrownYoung to study more closely differences in
undergraduateandgraduate and professional student usageoftheseservices,andto
consider ways of reallocating the Student Services Fee that reflects differences in
graduate and professional students usage of student services fees compared with
undergraduatestudents,
calls on all collegiate units currentlyassessinggraduateassistantsaCollegiateFeeto
consult with graduate assistants extensively to understand whether graduate
assistants in their college wouldpreferdifferentorincreasedservice levelsorawaiver
ofsuchfees
asks Provost Karen Hanson and Vice President Kathy Brown to ask graduate
programs employing graduateassistantstobegincovering allresidualcostsofstudent
fees,ofnomorethan$350overanacademicyear,within3years

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that intheeventthatthisproposalcannotbehonored,ifnotin

its specifics at least in the general spirit of significantly reducing the fee burden on graduate
assistants and raising the wages of graduate assistants at the minimum to a more livable
level,theCouncilofGraduateStudentsrequeststhefollowing:
that President Kaler, Vice Presidents Karen Hanson, Kathy Brown, Richard
Pfutzenreuter and Vice Provost Danita BrownYoung formally recognize the
importance of graduate student support, the livability of graduate assistant wages,
commit to bringing all stakeholders together forfindingwaysandconcretesolutionsto
improving graduate assistantswages,andengageCOGSinfindingpracticalsolutions
toimprovingwages,
that the above commit to finding ways to encourage the study ofservice usage and
access from fees on the part of graduate and professional students, and engage
COGS and PSA in a work group to develop a concrete plan of action forimproving
graduateandprofessionalstudentusageofservicesprovidedthroughfees
that the above commit toworking with the Graduate School to convene a work group
that will help design realistic ways to cut the livability gap, and provide graduate
assistants with clear time tables in their plan of action for increasing stipends for
graduateassistants

SOUR
CE
DATA

Michi
gan

http://hr.umich.edu/acadhr/grads/gsigssamemo.html

http://ro.umich.edu/tuition/tuitionfees.
php#otherfees

Illinoi
s

http://www.ahr.illinois.edu/grads/grad1415rates.pdf

FeeWaiver:
http://www.grad.illinois.edu/gradhandb
ook/chapterVII/section04GeneralFee
Amount:
http://registrar.illinois.edu/gfeescr

Iowa

http://hr.uiowa.edu/bargaining/cogscontract15#Section2MinSala
ries

FeeRateswithWaiver(for2015under
GraduateCollege)
https://www.maui.uiowa.edu/maui/pub/
tuition/rates.page

Ohio
State

Purdu
e

https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/documents/funding/publicati
ons/Graduate_Student_Employment_Manual.pdf(AppendixC)

SingleFeeforGraduateStudentStaff:
http://www.purdue.edu/bursar/tuition/f
eerates/20142015/otherFees1.html#W
L_Grad_Staff

Nebra
ska

http://nebraska.edu/docs/budget/personnelroster201415.pdf

http://studentaccounts.unl.edu/201420
15ratespersononcampuscourses

Wisc
onsin

https://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/UTG/SalRng.html#stuasst

https://registrar.wisc.edu/documents/S
eg_Fees_GRAD_11521154.pdf

Michi
gan
State

http://www.hr.msu.edu/hiring/studentemployment/gradasst/stipen
dRanges.htm#GA_T_R_TE

http://ctlr.msu.edu/COStudentAccount
s/TuitionCalculatorSpring.aspx

Penn
State

https://guru.psu.edu/gfug/appendices/APP05.html

http://tuition.psu.edu/tuitiondynamic/tu
itionandfees.aspx

Maryl
and

http://www.ora.umd.edu/resources/benefitsstipends/graduate

http://bursar.umd.edu/t_grd1415.php#s
td_grad

Minne
sota

http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/pay/salaries/1415floors/index.html

http://onestop.umn.edu/pdf/tuition_gra
d_new201415.pdf

Rutge
rs

http://uhr.rutgers.edu/policiesresources/salaryschedules/aaupa
ftfacultysalaryschedules/fulltimetaandgastarting(Note:
Adjustedtoreflect15hourworkweekratherthan20hourwork
week)

http://www.rutgersaaup.org/document
s/successormoatagaandeof