Hey! We want your opinion about GEO… Please enter and answer here!
As we all know, a union needs to be guided by its members. We need to know your opinions, viewpoints, wishes, impressions, etc.
Read on, and tell us! We will be bringing your answers to the next membership meeting, May 8th, at 5.
1. How does our union represent us?
2. What kind of leadership do we want?
3. What should be the priorities of the union for next year?
4. What is the role of the union in terms of graduate employees’ political struggles on this campus?
May 5th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Hi GEO,
I am a graduate student with the Department of ECE. I am a foreign student from India.
I strongly feel the need of having a student body that is exclusive for graduate students. Reason being, graduate students contribute in large proportion towards the intellectual property of the institution. Average age for a graduate student being somewhere close to mid twenties to early thirties makes it tough for him to maintain a balance between his personal life and academic life, as many of them are married, have kids, etc.
So, a union is required, that takes care of all these issues so that the graduate student can perform well academically.
This union should be a body elected for graduate students, by graduate students and should comprise of graduate students. Reason behind this is only a graduate student can run this organization well, as he is well aware of the life of a graduate student.
Past year, there were significant advancements and was a bright year for graduate students in terms of achievements. We all did a good job bargaining for increase in the annual stipend for graduate students, which resulted in the increase.
In my opinion, this year we should target getting the heat refund that graduate students, living in North Village deserve. We should carry out our campaign in such a manner that it makes a strong impact on the administration of the university. One such way, is showing them statistics. It has been proven that campaigns based on statistics and actual figures and numbers are way more stronger than vague campaigns.
This year, we must collect data from the students living in North Village, about their household income, their expenditure, how much they spend on heating, etc and based upon those findings design our campaign in such a way that it does a deep impact on the administration.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
We have new leadership that we know very little about. Ordinarily during a contested election, candidates prepare statements that inform membership about who they are, what their experience with GEO has been and what their plans are for their tenure. In the absence of an election this year (or even coherent organizing and publicity prior to nominations), members are generally unaware of the experiences and plans of our electeds.
With the changes in leadership this past year and GEO going back into bargaining in the fall, I think it’s really important for leadership to explain in detail what their approaches to GEO will be, what their experiences with GEO have been and, most importantly, how they plan on being able to commit the time and energy necessary to the tasks ahead. It seemed this last year that leadership (or staff) with conflicting outside commitments or lack of time/energy really negatively impacted GEOs ability to organize and mobilize. Members should be assured that their new leadership will be able to fully commit to the positions.
I am excited about bargaining beginning again in the fall and have high hopes that membership will be more effectively mobilized at that time.