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Thread: Graduate workers are degree-seeking students who pay tuition and work about 15 to 20 hours a week. They include research and graduate assistants, as well as associate instructors.
Their work is indispensable to IU, yet their stipends are among the Big Ten's lowest.
Their work is indispensable to IU, yet their stipends are among the Big Ten's lowest.
2/15: Despoina Panagiotidou remembers the moment she learned she was accepted into the IU Jacobs School of Music and how excited she was to work with some of the best performers in the world.
Five years later, that excitement is gone. https://www.idsnews.com/article/2021/02/iu-grad-students-high-fees
Five years later, that excitement is gone. https://www.idsnews.com/article/2021/02/iu-grad-students-high-fees
3/15: Each semester, she said she pays about $357 in mandatory student fees for being an international student, another $703 for being an IU student and an additional $1,082 for being a Jacobs School of Music student.
4/15: After fees, she said some graduate workers in Jacobs make as little as $5,100.
“I was thinking that if I go to the U.S. and work as an instructor, I would imagine it to be more of something prestigious that would also be reflected in the pay,” she said.
“I was thinking that if I go to the U.S. and work as an instructor, I would imagine it to be more of something prestigious that would also be reflected in the pay,” she said.
5/15: In January 2020, @IndianaGrads accessed a graduate student funding report from the College of Arts and Sciences.
The report noted that the lowest paid students were receiving $13,580, putting them near the 2019 poverty line for a single adult, which was $12,490.
The report noted that the lowest paid students were receiving $13,580, putting them near the 2019 poverty line for a single adult, which was $12,490.
6/15: Mandatory fees, which eat away at low stipends, have increased while transparency has decreased, master’s student Cole Nelson said.
An IU spokesperson said mandatory fees increased by 2.5% in 2020 and 2021 because tuition increased.
An IU spokesperson said mandatory fees increased by 2.5% in 2020 and 2021 because tuition increased.
7/15: Abolfazl Alipour, a Neuroscience and Psychology Ph.D. student and supporter of the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition, said he was hoping to represent graduate students when he joined the Committee for Fee Review this year.
8/15: Alipour supported the fight to improve conditions for graduate workers on IU’s campus. Alipour said when executive members on the committee found out about his affiliation with IGWC, they asked him to choose between the committee and coalition. https://www.idsnews.com/article/2021/02/iu-graduate-student-mandatory-fees-coalition-advisory-committee
9/15: Kathryn Combs, a master’s student studying printmaking, is an associate instructor in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design.
In 2018, her first year of graduate school, she worked in copywriting, blog writing and waited tables to cover her expenses.
In 2018, her first year of graduate school, she worked in copywriting, blog writing and waited tables to cover her expenses.
10/15: Despite these extra sources of income, Combs said she still struggled financially that year. She went to food pantries and almost maxed out her credit card to pay bills, she said. https://www.idsnews.com/article/2021/02/iu-grad-students-high-fees
11/15: Cole Nelson said he feels overworked as an associate instructor. His contract with IU requires he work at least 19 hours per week, but he said he works countless hours over.
Because graduate workers are paid through a stipend, there is no overtime compensation, he said.
Because graduate workers are paid through a stipend, there is no overtime compensation, he said.
12/15: Huixin Tian, an Information Science doctoral student, said she faced difficulties when trying to run a program for her class because her laptop couldn’t run it.
When she reached out to her department and Wells Library, she was told that they couldn’t help her, she said.
When she reached out to her department and Wells Library, she was told that they couldn’t help her, she said.
13/15: In January 2021, IGWC launched a boycott against the university’s mandatory fee. Members of the coalition felt that none of their other protest methods had led to actual change, Nelson said. https://www.idsnews.com/article/2020/08/iu-grad-students-protest-monday-for-higher-wages-and-better-conditions
14/15: Many administrators have been sympathetic to the coalition, Nelson said, but they say things are out of their control.
“They just want to push around the responsibility from one person to the other until, presumably we're exhausted, or get defeated otherwise,” he said.
“They just want to push around the responsibility from one person to the other until, presumably we're exhausted, or get defeated otherwise,” he said.
15/15: “When I got here, it felt like the things that I should be worrying about were taking a back burner to just, like, just getting by,” Combs said.
Read the full investigation: https://www.idsnews.com/article/2021/02/iu-grad-students-high-fees
Read the full investigation: https://www.idsnews.com/article/2021/02/iu-grad-students-high-fees
