The day after the beginning of the fall semester, all graduate and undergraduate students at Brandeis received an email from Vice President of Student Affairs Andrea Dine, advertising open office hours with the Brandeis Administration. These office hours were described as an “opportunity for you to get to know various members of the senior administration.” It was also an opportunity for senior staff to hear about students’ experiences at Brandeis. 

The first of the seven total office hours scheduled for the week of Sept. 9 took place on Monday from 10 to 11 a.m. in Hassenfeld Conference Center with Executive Vice President of Finance & Administration Stewart Uretsky and Associate VP for Student Affairs Shelby Harris. Members of the Graduate Student Union took the opportunity to speak with senior staff and share their desire for financial security through a new fair contract agreement. 

At approximately 9:50 a.m. union members gathered in the Shapiro Campus Center. As a collective, approximately 12 members walked over to the conference center. Before entering the conference room they gathered for pictures and chanted “Brandeis works because we do.” 

Graduate student unions have been in bargaining negotiations since last spring, as their old contracts were set to expire on June 30. There have been at least 10 bargaining meetings since, but no agreement has been reached. 

During the almost hour long display of dissatisfaction with the University, many graduate students and graduate student employees shared similar struggles of paying rent, health expenses and facing food insecurity. 

“I've been a graduate student for five years now. In that time I have had to compromise on my health by buying food that is too cheap. By not going to the dentist. By living in poor housing conditions,” said Sarah, a graduate student in the math department. She explained that these circumstances often lead to her not completing her best work as a student and an employee, as she is unable to take care of herself in the necessary way.

Ian, PhD student at The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, expressed how the pay does not reflect the work of graduate student employees. 

“In the time I've been at Brandeis, I've brought in five grants to the University, three individually and two as part of a research team,” says Ian. “Despite all of that money I brought in for research, I currently work three jobs and the biggest challenge I've faced in making progress on my dissertation is the amount I have to work outside of my research to afford the cost of living.” 

Brandeis is classified as an R1 institution by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, meaning that it has shown dedication to research, financial investments in science and engineering, a sizable research faculty and can show that there are a significant number of doctoral degrees granted in diverse disciplines.

Many of the union members believe that graduate students are an investment for the University and attribute Brandeis’ classification as R1 to its graduate employees. 

“I think part of what makes Brandeis such a good institution is that it’s R1,” Sarah points out. “I think we really want to keep that R1 status and we know what goes into that. It's students graduating in five years, and students graduating on time.” She elaborates by explaining that if a graduate employee needs to work multiple jobs and teach extra classes during the school year and over summer breaks, they are unable to conduct research and graduate on time. 

Many of the attendees also expressed their concerns for the undergraduate students, who take classes taught by graduate students. Graduate students question how they can possibly do their best at producing quality teaching if they are underpaid and concerned with making ends meet. 

After union members had the opportunity to express their feelings, Uretsky shared his appreciation for their advocacy and the time that was taken to show up to the office hour. He acknowledges that their concerns are “real issues” but notes that “there's a lot of competing priorities.”

Some competing priorities include “deferred maintenance,” that according to Uretsky “the university historically has not had sufficient funds to do everything that it wants to do and should be doing.” Other areas include tuition affordability, providing as much financial aid as possible and ensuring that the university can adequately allocate about 55% of its total budget to wages. 

Feeling as though they are not treated as investments, some graduate employees pledge to not invest back to the university as future alumni

“I went here for undergrad, when I graduated in undergrad, I planned on being a regular donor. I would try to give $20 a year,” says Cat Rosch, a third year PhD candidate in the history department, who also graduated from Brandeis as an undergraduate student in 2016. “Since I started my PhD program here, I have stopped donating money. Not because I can't afford the $20 a year, although saving it does help, but because I no longer feel like Brandeis cares about me as a student and as a student worker.” 

During the office hour, Harris expressed her empathy. “I'm sad that you have to keep doing this," said Harris, who expressed a similar experience of having to pay off student loans while living in the Boston area. “I hope that this comes to a resolution that works for you all and works for the University as quickly as possible.”

When asked about his vision and five-year plan, Uretsky shared his desire to ensure that the “incredibly rich history” of Brandeis continues to have a future, through investments in faculty, staff, facilities, and “all of the things that make for a rich experience here.”

However, graduate student union members are skeptical. 

“I appreciate that mission on paper so much,” Sophia said in response. “'We’re all just here trying to warn you that we don't think this path is leading towards that vision. When I came to Brandeis, hallmarks of Brandeis that excited me, that I was proud to tell peers about, are being threatened every day.”

The gathering ended just before 11:00 a.m., with a silent exit from the conference room. Graduate students are expected to return to the bargaining table this Thursday in hopes of agreeing on a contract with the University. The old contract that was scheduled to expire at the end of June was extended, but the extension is set to expire once again on Sept. 20.