FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: GRADUATE EMPLOYEES’ ORGANIZATION SAYS TUITION INCREASES ARE “NEITHER NECESSARY NOR APPROPRIATE” TO ADDRESS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BUDGET SHORTFALL
New fact sheet shows graduate employees generate surplus cash for University of Illinois

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN (March 3): Promoting world-class public education at the University of Illinois does not require a tuition increase, the University of Illinois graduate employees union said today – but it does require transparency about the school’s budget.

“We applaud Interim President Stanley Ikenberry’s March 2^nd statements to the Champaign News-Gazette that the U of I will look to cut from administrative programs in response to the current state budget shortfall,” said Peter Campbell, communications officer for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO). “However, the facts show that a tuition increase is neither necessary nor appropriate. The UI administration has failed to explain why money from reserves, the UI Foundation, and cutting from the top will not be enough to address the shortfall.”

In a statement released today, the GEO calls on the UI administration to work transparently and creatively with workers, students and faculty to respond to state budget shortfalls in a manner that does not place the primary burden on workers and students.

The statement, “University of Illinois Budget Myths and Facts,” responds directly to administration budget claims that the GEO feels are questionable.

“Ikenberry’s statements signal a privatized U of I that is accessible only to the wealthy,” said Campbell. “Investing in the university’s workers and students is the best way to build an accessible, diverse and quality educational future for us all.”

Because Illinois citizens, students and low paid workers are suffering the most from the current economy, “it doesn’t make sense for the state to pull out of funding for higher education, and for the University to hike tuition and fees,” said Mukta Tripathy, GEO Officer-at-Large.

The GEO and the newly formed UC United coalition call for a tuition and fee freeze, an end to layoffs and furloughs of workers and faculty, a democratic campus with shared governance in policy decisions, the recruitment and retention of a diverse campus population of workers, students, and faculty that is truly representative of the State of Illinois, and transparency about the UI budget.  The UC United Coalition also calls for progressive state and federal funding for all levels of public education.

The Graduate Employees’ Organization, AFT/IFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, represents approximately 2700 Teaching and Graduate Assistants on the UIUC Campus.  On March 4^th, the GEO will join the “UC United” coalition of students, workers, and faculty in Urbana-Champaign will hold a major rally as part of the March 4^th National Day of Action to Defend Public Education.

For more information, please contact Peter Campbell, GEO Communications Officer, at 253-222-5861 or odell.campbell@gmail.com.  More information can also be found on our website at uigeo.org.

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Read the fact sheet after the jump:

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BUDGET MYTHS AND FACTS

MYTH: THE STATE BUDGET CRISIS HAS TO CRIPPLE UNIVERSITY FUNDING. Interim President Stanley Ikenberry says that while the state should “resolve its financial crisis immediately,” he sees no “signs of it happening.”  The GEO calls on President Ikenberry and the UI administration to do more to demand the money owed to the U of I, and to publicly join students, workers, and faculty on all three UI campuses in pressuring the legislature to fulfill its financial obligations.

Such public pressure has not been forthcoming from top UI administrators, making it more difficult for Illinois state legislators who favor improved public funding for higher education.

FACT: UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATORS HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO PUSH FUNDING FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION. The UI administration consistently implies that the current budget shortfall is a new crisis. However, for over a decade the UI administration has consistently failed to resist state cuts in public University funding.

President Ikenberry’s statements in the News-Gazette that the U of I will have to rely primarily on tuition dollars to fund instruction are reflective of several years of UI administration efforts to move to a privatized model of University funding that relies primarily on tuition and corporate funds.  Ikenberry even says that the University of Illinois will have to look to Northwestern and other expensive, inaccessible private schools as future models for UI policy.  This privatized University model is completely contrary to the mission of the University of Illinois as a public, land-grant institution.

By failing to invest in students and workers, the state of Illinois and the University of Illinois administration are ensuring that the residents of Illinois, students, and low paid workers are hardest hit by the state and national economic crisis.

MYTH: A TUITION INCREASE IS NECESSARY TO STOP THE UNIVERSITY FROM SHUTTING DOWN. While Ikenberry claims that up to a 20% tuition increase is necessary to keep the University from shutting down, an independent audit from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) (download the .pdf at uigeo.org/publicity-materials/), the University of Illinois’ financial situation is “solid.”  The money currently owed from the state constitutes a very small portion (less than 1%) of the overall UI budget, and tuition increases, layoffs, and furloughs are not warranted.

According to the audit, the “UI system had approximately 12% of reserves as of June 30, 2008.”  As this is 12% of the TOTAL budget, including “restricted funds” that the UI administration claims cannot be used for instructional expenses, “a reduction in a few months of the state appropriation should easily be handled from current cash reserves,” according to Cary Nelson, AAUP President.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BUDGET MYTHS AND FACTS

FACT: ADMINISTRATIVE FAILURE TO ACT LEADS TO MORE PRIVATIZATION AND CORPORATIZATION, UNDERMINING PUBLIC EDUCATION. The GEO believes that the UI administration is using the current cash-flow problem to further the privatization and corporatization of the University, a policy that a recent national poll by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education claims is partially responsible for decreased public interest in state funding for Universities.   (http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/squeeze-play-2010).

FACT: INVESTING IN THE UNIVERSITY, ITS WORKERS AND STUDENTS, ACTUALLY GENERATES A SURPLUS.  INSTEAD, UNIVERSITY POLICIES SIGNAL A PUSH TOWARD PRIVATIZATION.

For example, graduate teaching assistants– even after their wages are subtracted– actually generate tuition dollar surpluses for the University for every course taught.  Yet a memo circulated by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to LAS department heads encouraged departments to further reduce the “cost per instructional unit” by hiring adjuncts to teach large classes rather than graduate instructors to teach small ones.

This directive not only ignores the goal of educational excellence, but also focuses on cutting a sector that is crucial to the University’s mission, when much larger economies could be made by curtailing spiraling administrative costs.

The response to the budget shortfall must not be to increase tuition, to fire and furlough workers and faculty, and to force colleges and departments into larger classes with fewer instructors.

Please join us for the UC United Coalition’s March 4th Rally for the Future of an Accessible, Diverse, and Democratic UIUC.  The UIUC rally will be part of the March 4th National Day of Action to Defend Public Education (read the national calls).  The GEO has officially endorsed the March 4th Day of Action, and we call on all GEO members to participate.

The UC United Coalition, which includes the GEO, the Campus Labor Coalition, the Campus Faculty Association, the Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance, La Colectiva, and the Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, demands a UIUC truly committed to access, diversity, democracy, and quality, and that the U of I administration stop pushing the burden of the budget shortfall down to workers and students.

While we worked incredibly hard last semester to win a contract that is already working to protect our members through the grievance process, the University administration is still moving toward a privatized future for UIUC that includes fewer graduate employees, larger class sizes, and less flexibility for graduate appointments. Campus units and departments are being forced to plan for drastic cuts that will significantly impact graduate employees, despite the fact that an independent audit from the American Association of University Professionals claims that the U of I financial situation is “strong,” and that these measures are in no way required by the current shortfall in state funding.  Download a flyer summarizing the audit here.

We know more than anyone on campus that only through direct action can we continue to take back control of the direction of our University.  Many of the members of the UC United Coalition walked with us on the lines – now their jobs and livelihoods are being threatened by irresponsible and non-transparent decisions by the UI administration – so let’s walk with them!

We worked long and hard to win an historic contract.  Now let’s build on those gains – starting on March 4th!

UC United press release announcing the rally:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: UC UNITED COALITION OF STUDENTS, WORKERS AND FACULTY TO HOLD RALLY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN AS PART OF THE MARCH 4 NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO DEFEND PUBLIC EDUCATION

Urbana-Champaign, IL (March 2): On March 4, 2010 at noon, the UC United Coalition, consisting of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) (AFT/IFT Local 6300), the Campus Labor Coalition, the Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance (UGA), the Campus Faculty Association (CFA), La Colectiva, and the Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority will hold a rally for the future of an accessible, diverse, and democratic University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) as part of the March 4th National Day of Action to Defend Public Education (defendcapubliceducation@wordpress.com, defendeducation.org).

The rally will assemble at the UIUC Alma Mater statue at the corner of Green and Wright Street in Urbana at noon.  Rally participants will begin marching at 12:10 to the Swanlund Administration Building (601 E. John Street).  The rally outside Swanlund will last from 12:20-12:50, and will include speakers, music, and performances from UIUC students and workers.

The rally will demand that the University of Illinois (UI) administration center the priorities of the University of Illinois around access, diversity, democracy, and quality.  Specifically, UC United calls for a tuition and fee freeze, an end to layoffs and furloughs of workers and faculty, a democratic campus with shared governance in policy decisions, the recruitment and retention of a diverse campus population of workers, students, and faculty that is truly representative of the State of Illinois, and transparency about the UI budget.  The UC United Coalition also calls for progressive state and federal funding for all levels of public education.

The University of Illinois administration is arguing that a budget shortfall in promised Illinois state monies to the U of I necessitates furloughs, layoffs, and cuts at the departmental and unit level that will cause larger class sizes and significant damage to the U of I’s core mission of research and instruction.  Little data about the UI budget has been released, despite an independent audit by the American Association of University Professors that claims the UI budget situation, contrary to administration claims, is “strong.” (For a copy of this report and other publicity related to the March 4th rally, please refer to uigeo.org/publicity-materials/).  As Susan Davis, CFA Executive Committee member and Professor in the Department of Communication said, the University of Illinois administration’s policy “places the burden of the current budget shortfall on personnel and students.”

The UC United Coalition is concerned about the trend at the U of I toward the privatization and corporatization of public education, with not only an increased reliance on corporate funding and grants, but a failure to prioritize instruction and research over administrative units and a longstanding efforts to reduce or eliminate tuition waivers for graduate employees.  As Peter Campbell, GEO Communications Officer said, “while both the U of I and Illinois face severe budget difficulties, the University administration has the ability to be a leader in maintaining accessible and democratic public education even in economic hard times.  Instead, the University administration has consistently failed to prioritize instruction and research over administrative costs, or to involve the campus community to find creative ways to address the state budget shortfall that don’t place the primary burden on workers and students.”

According to a poll conducted by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and Public Agenda, “six out of 10 Americans now say that colleges operate more like a business,” and that this focus “more on the bottom line than on the educational experience of students” is a major reason for public ambivalence toward funding higher education (http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/squeeze-play-2010).  At the University of Illinois, administration directives refer to students as “instructional units,” and urge departments to increase class sizes and decrease instructors in order to maximize instructional efficiency.  Such policies, in conjunction with tuition increases, layoffs, and furloughs, work to create a lower quality of education that is accessible only to elites. These policies are contrary to prevailing public opinion about how public universities should operate in the United States.

UC United calls on the UIUC and Urbana-Champaign community to join us in taking back the future of our campus, and of public education in Illinois and the United States.

For more information about the UC United Coalition, the March 4 rally, and other upcoming events, please visit our event page at uicrisis.org and/or contact any of the following representatives: Peter Campbell, GEO Communications Officer, 253-222-5861, odell.campbell@gmail.com, uigeo.org; Harriet Murav Campus Faculty Association, 217-359-5394, and Jim Barret, Campus Faculty Association, 217-352-2714; Pete Rhomberg, Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance, (708) 828-9926, rhomberger3000@gmail.com.  Publicity materials for the rally can be downloaded at uigeo.org/publicity-materials/.

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While there are many candidates and issues that affect graduate employees, among the more important are the candidates for Student Trustee.  The Student Trustee has a position on the Board of Trustees, the governing body of the University, and as such has real influence over University policy.  The GEO held a town hall forum for the Trustee candidates on Thursday, and each has provided a brief written statement to the GEO describing their candidacy.  The statements, along with the website for each candidate, have been sent out this morning over the GEO-L for members to peruse.  The candidates are Owais M. Ahmed, Daniel Soso, David Wall, and Dan Weber.

Graduate Employees: vote online today and tomorrow at vote.illinois.edu!

Unionization is strongly associated with increases in overall compensation, measured here by hourly wages and health and pension benefit coverage. In the typical state, unionization is associated with about a 15 percent increase in hourly wages (roughly $2.50 per hour), a 19-percentage-point increase in the likelihood of having employer-provided health insurance, and a 24-percentage-point increase in the likelihood of having employer-sponsored retirement plans.

To download the complete report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), click here.

Today, the Supreme Court further tilted the playing field in favor of business corporations in public elections. By allowing unlimited corporate treasury expenditures that explicitly support or oppose particular candidates, the Court has increased the already excessive influence that corporations exert in our electoral system. And we believe the Court wrongly treated corporate expenditures the same as union expenditures, contrary to the arguments we made in our brief in this case. Unions, unlike businesses, are democratically-controlled, nonprofit membership organizations representing working men and women across the country, and their independent speech should accordingly be given greater protection.

The AFL-CIO supports a system of campaign finance regulation that promotes democratic participation in elections by individuals and their associations; protects legitimate independent speech rights; offers public financing to candidates while firmly regulating contributions to them; and guarantees effective disclosure of who is paying for what.

This ad is just one of the ways that we’re  reaching out with gratitude to those who stood with us for accessible public higher education and just working conditions in November.