Welcome to our New GEO Officers for 2009-10, who were elected by the members at our membership meeting in April.
Co-Presidents
Caroline Nappo (Library & Information Science)
Ingbert Floyd (Library & Information Science)
Grievance Officer
Michelle Owen (Law & ILIR) – returning
Communications Officer
Peter Campbell (Communication)
Treasurer
Stephanie Seawell (History)
At-Large Officers
Lee Ragsdale (Linguistics)
Mukta Tripathy (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering)
Matt Anderson (Geography)
Thanks to all of our outgoing officers. It was a GREAT year!
Archives
All posts by staff
***LGBTQA Caucus Film Fest & Hair Show!***
Friday, May 8th, 7-11PM
Independent Media Center, 202 S. Broadway, Urbana (post office)
Sing along to John Waters’ HAIRSPRAY (7pm) and HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH (9pm). Costumes and zany hairstyles strongly encouraged. Enter the Hair Show at intermission to win a prize for best hair! Admission is $2. Suggested donations for refreshments to support the Greater Community AIDS Project.
For more information about this event or the LGBTQA
Caucus of the Graduate Employees’ Organization, please contact the GEO at (217) 344-8283 / lserb@uigeo.org
The next stewards council meeting will be:
Wednesday, May 6
5:30-6:30 PM
University YMCA (1001 S. Wright St.)
(Second Floor)
The stewards council is made up of GEO members active in organizing their individual departments. We meet in order to share ideas for increasing membership and involvement among members. Stewards also advocate for GEO members within their departments, have regular conversations with members in order to identify their concerns, and keep track of departmental developments that affect members. Come to the meeting to meet your departmental steward or to become a steward for your department. All members are welcome to attend and pizza will be provided.
To add agenda items for the steward’s council email Emilie Bess at hello.em@gmail.com or Kate Grim-Feinberg kgrimfe2@illinois.edu.
Saturday May 2
Workshops and presentations on:
Unemployment & Job Creation
Anti-eviction Actions
Community & Urban Gardens
Urban Spaces & Social Neglect
Food Not Bombs
Activism, Political Organizing, and Direct Action and much more!!!
Independent Media Center
202 S. Broadway @ Elm St., Urbana
Food & Entertainment at 12:30pm
Program begins at 1pm
Dinner at 6pm
Our Bargaining Team met for the first time with the Administration’s
team on Tuesday, April 21.
Ashley Howard (History) presented our proposal. Other members of our
team are: Erin Heath (English), Ingbert Floyd (GSLIS), Kerry Pimblott (History),
Damien Mathew (BioPhysics), Anna Kurhajec (History), Carolina Sternberg
(Geography), Dave Bates (History), Dave Beck (GEO staff), and Jon Nadler
(IFT Field Service Director).
Our next meeting with the Administration will be on Tuesday, May 5.
We’re looking forward to seeing some kind of a response to our proposals.
Stay tuned for more bargaining news…
The Health Care Working Group is collecting stories from students regarding difficulties accessing sonogram services or finding accurate information about sonograms from McKinley. We are also interested in any resulting (emotional, financial, time-related) costs that have been incurred. Please contact Bryana French: bryana.french@gmail.com, Aimee Rickman: arickman@illinois.edu, or Lori Serb: lserb@uigeo.org for more information or to set a meeting time to discuss your experience. Please direct all written statements of experiences with McKinley sonogram to lserb@uigeo.org by April 30.
*Healthcare* – Tuesday, April 7, 5-6:30pm, YMCA – Come discuss & provide feedback on draft healthcare contract language – snacks provided
Thursday, April 2, 12-1pm, YMCA – Come discuss & provide feedback on draft contract language – food provided
Check out 2 GEO members as they tell it like it is…
Rich Potter (Communication) recently gave an address to the Board of Trustees on the need for a living wage for TAs and GAs.
Rich’s 5-minute presentation is now available at
Address to BoT
Rich clearly had an impact. Afterward, Trustee Dorris left the meeting to talk to Rich about the living wage issue.
Pass this on to your friends, students, and faculty!
Caroline Nappo (Library & Information Science) was recently interviewed by Chicago Public Radio for their “State of Your State” program. Check out what she had to say about transparency at the U of I.
The GEO is currently circulating this Statement of Support to all members and organizations of the campus community. If your organization would like to support Graduate Employees on this campus, please consider issuing this or a similar statement.
We, members of the campus community, value the critical role played by graduate employees at the University of Illinois. Accordingly, we are alarmed by the Provosts proposed changes to the graduate tuition waiver policy and its potential implications for the accessibility of graduate education and the excellence of instruction and research. We, therefore, demand that the Administration halt any processes currently underway to transform the tuition waiver policy and insist that any future deliberations take place in a transparent and democratic fashion in which graduate employees are formally represented.
GEO members: Download this Waiver Petition.
Circulate and return to the GEO office!