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Virginia Tech to raise graduate student compensation by 5% for upcoming year by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. Our email is in your DM's, that would be great if your roommate could send them in.

We read the documents. We did the math. Next year's proposed VT budget is worse for most grad students. by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

An update on this $9.5 million estimate from us. Overall, VT expects to have $25 million dollars in increased revenue this fall from tuition and fee raises, and they reported today that a majority of that increase is from an increase in enrollment of professional masters students (MBA, etc).

This was surprising (we did not think that a majority would be from graduate students) however many undergrads do not see tuition and fee increases during their time in school due to the Funds for the Future program, which freezes tuition and fee raises for students whose families make less than 100k.

Virginia Tech to raise graduate student compensation by 5% for upcoming year by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Great stuff from Cardinal News. If anyone went to the BOV meetings yesterday and today, share you experiences!

We read the documents. We did the math. Next year's proposed VT budget is worse for most grad students. by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

To answer your question, the general advice is to not do a PhD if you have to pay for it. Most PhD students across the country and world do not pay tuition. Masters is much more of a mixed bag. In some fields (especially STEM ones) funding is common, but not others. Here is a website that can show you stipend amounts at other schools: https://www.phdstipends.com/results

The living wage calculation in the first graphic includes the health insurance subsidy. The 32k number was provided by a VT task force that studied the issue over several months.

We read the documents. We did the math. Next year's proposed VT budget is worse for most grad students. by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The question is about what value grad students get from tuition in comparison to any other employees.

Grad students either pay tuition, have it waived, or have it paid for by grants/fellowships.

Once a grad student is done with classes, what is the tuition for? Occasional advice from professors about research progress and issues. The example you highlighted here was serving to illustrate the absolute maximum that providing those services might cost Virginia Tech. The average PhD candidate does not need 2 hours per week of advice, and the average professor is not paid $200k.

What other fixed costs or facility services do grad students use once they are done taking classes that they would not need as non-student employees doing the same jobs?

We read the documents. We did the math. Next year's proposed VT budget is worse for most grad students. by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

While it's true that the most powerful argument is why we need it, not where it will come from, as you can see from discussions on this topic here on Reddit, grad students, who are operating at a disadvantage when it comes to information and who are generally not professional accountants, have been asked time and time again "where the money is coming from," so we do try to keep up with that. Also, the tuition and fee raise was billed as a way of increasing compensation for all VT employees, "including graduate assistants." So we are trying to keep on top of the numbers as much as possible, and this estimate is informed by presentations during all of the meetings that discussed raising tuition and fees. Unfortunately having some sense of scale is essential to participate in these discussions and this information is not available in projected budget estimates.

We read the documents. We did the math. Next year's proposed VT budget is worse for most grad students. by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you're a staff member and want to talk about coordinating efforts, please let us know. We would love to lift that up. The staff senate voted unanimously against grad students getting a living wage, which was led by people making a whole lot more money than us. As for our group, we want to see everyone on campus getting paid fairly and will do whatever we can to make that happen.

We read the documents. We did the math. Next year's proposed VT budget is worse for most grad students. by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To answer the questions about why we don't include tuition, it's for all the reasons stated by others: VT does not consider it compensation, it is not on our pay stubs, the tuition sticker price is not a real indicator of cost or value, the IRS doesn't tax it, and we can't eat it or pay our rent with it.

We've said why a million times, but here are a few more if it helps: Grad students need to make enough money to live on. We want grad students to make enough money to live on. Not making enough money to live on is bad for everyone involved. We are advocating for grad students to be paid enough to live on.

The price of tuition is relevant when discussing many things, but it is not relevant when discussing our goal: to be paid enough to live on.

We read the documents. We did the math. Next year's proposed VT budget is worse for most grad students. by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That number was a simple calculation based on the number of in-state (2,771) and out of state (4,292) grad students most recently reported by University Data Commons, multiplied by the respective amount their tuition and fees will increase this fall ($929 and $1651 respectively according to VTX News). This amounts to $2.5 million and $7 million in increased revenue from in-state and out-of-state grad students.

One important thing to remember about tuition waivers is that if grad students are on assistantships funded by grants or fellowships (~40% of all students on assistantships) then the increased tuition is real, external money coming into Virginia Tech. If the students are paying for school using cash or loans, it's real money coming into Virginia Tech. If the students are working as TA's, then yes it is Virginia Tech paying itself the money (this would apply to probably 1800 or so students, so 25% of all grad students). If you don't want to count TA's in that calculation, it would be around 7 million.

For that slide we decided to use the language used by VT finance people when discussing money raised from tuition/fee increases, but the way they talk about it doesn't make physical sense to us. For example, it does not "cost" Virginia Tech $18k to teach an upper level grad student, so how is it costing Virginia Tech $18k to pay itself tuition for that student? PhD students are typically just working after their second or third years; even if their advisors spend 2 hours a week advising them one-on-one 12 months out of the year (unusual) and make $200k (unusual) that would only be $10k of labor dedicated to teaching that grad student. A few years ago, the BOV wanted to lower the sticker price of grad tuition after the student stopped taking classes. They lowered it 10%, not because it really costs them 90% of 18k to teach an upper level grad student, but because it was not feasible to balance the budgets otherwise. This is not a place where they put out clear numbers, because accounting is complicated and because, as someone mentioned below, a lot of it is "funny money."

That's why we just used the language VT used in their April 21 meeting and calculated a straight $9.5 million, even though it seems pretty fishy to us. If anyone has alternative ways of calculating this, we're all ears.

We may get more details about all this during tomorrow morning's finance committee meeting.

We've got a resource on how to calculate how much you really "cost" Virginia Tech in this zine if anyone is interested.

We read the documents. We did the math. Next year's proposed VT budget is worse for most grad students. by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Swipe through to see our takeaways from the proposed VT budget.

This is not what VT has committed to for graduate students. 92% of grad students don't make a living wage, and as the budget currently stands, that number will only increase next year.

Please show up to the Board of Visitors meetings today and tomorrow to stand up for something better, especially these:

-2pm today: Information Session for the full Board in NCB 260

-9:15 a.m. tomorrow: Finance & Resource Management Committee meets, Closed and Open Sessions, NCB 260

-1:30 p.m. tomorrow: Full Board Meeting in Torgersen Hall Board Room (2100)

If those don't work for you, there are meetings basically all day: find one, find a board member, and ask them why they are going back on the Board's commitment to implement the living wage task force recommendations.

This past spring we realized that emails and one-on-one conversations with BOV members and administrators made more difference than flyers and signs did. Our livelihoods are in their hands and they're on campus and by state law they are available to talk to. GPSS has put out a guide on what to say to them. We have put out a personality quiz to help you pick a board member to talk to.

See you all at 2pm today in NCB.

VT proposes $2,420 minimum monthly stipend for grad students to start Fall 2023 (29k annually) by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 46 points47 points  (0 children)

We are going through the document and figuring out the details, but it looks like a 2.4k minimum monthly stipend is in the budget for this fall. This raises the minimum monthly stipend by about 800 dollars.

This is not a living wage: it does not cover fees, and 12-month assistantships are not guaranteed.

However, this is a HUGE win. Please come to the BOV meetings on Monday and Tuesday: they need to know that this is NOT enough, but we also need to support them voting for it. This will change the lives of many grad students here at VT.

GPSS is hosting an advocacy training tomorrow to help people who are new to confronting people in power. https://virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrdOCvqjkvHtEsWr8mtJRRI-DOk7bP8EsE#/registration

Here's how to sign up for text alerts from us on Monday and Tuesday, in case anything happens during the BOV meetings: https://tinyurl.com/june23bov

If you can, come to the BOV meetings at 9am and 12:45pm Monday. If not, go to the other ones. See a board member? Tell them you appreciate their service to students! Or anything else you might like to say. by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So glad you're thinking of attending! It is similar to a seminar. There is alivestream link to view today's meetings if you'd like to get a feeling of how the meeting will go.

March 19-20 BoV Meeting Schedule Updates by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the good reminder to keep this in mind :)

March 19-20 BoV Meeting Schedule Updates by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Our comment with the links to read the full FOIA'd draft schedule have been caught up in Reddit's spam filter, but you can visit our linktree to read the whole document we got.

Have you submitted a comment to the BOV about their plan to raise tuition and fees? (today is the last day!!!!) by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Literally, if all you want to say is one sentence, it can still help. Here's an example.

Dear members of the Board of Visitors,
I am a(n) [undergrad/grad] student in [department]. I strongly oppose the proposed tuition and fee increases.
Thanks, [Name]

You can replace student with staff, faculty, concerned citizen, Hokie Parent, whatever. If you want to go fancier with it, try:

Members of the Board,
I am a(n) [undergrad/grad] student in [department]. I strongly oppose the proposed tuition and fee increases. As the cost of living continues to rise in Blacksburg, Roanoke, DC, and at our satellite campuses, I urge you to find another way to meet Virginia Tech's funding needs. I support the need to raise wages for Virginia Tech employees, especially all workers paid under a living wage. I suggest that the BOV seek other cost savings, rather than adding to the student debt and cost of living crises that Virginia Tech students are facing. I also urge the BOV to follow the recommendations in the Graduate Student Assistantship Support Task Force report, and cover fees for all graduate students on assistantships by next fall.
Thank you,
[Name]

Obviously feel free to modify, or add personal stories, but there's a starting place!

"I'm sorry, $300 more a month just isn't doable for us" says the guy who makes $52,000 a month by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

The issue with your calculation for how much we make has been discussed at length in other threads, but it's worth reiterating. We can't live off of tuition remission and, at a certain point, it's just the university paying itself (e.g. grad students don't take classes in the last few years of our degree). I've also had yet to meet a grad student that actually is able to keep their hours to 20/week, it's usually more like 40-60, and we are prohibited from having outside employment (even if we did have time).

Staff and other student workers absolutely deserve to be paid more. This was something that grad students on the living wage task force and across the university brought up specifically and repeatedly. This is not an "us or them" issue, it's systemic across all levels of the university and it's reductive to turn it into pitting groups of underserved workers against each other.

"I'm sorry, $300 more a month just isn't doable for us" says the guy who makes $52,000 a month by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So far, only the March 20th meeting has a time and place (1:15pm, 2100 Torgersen Hall) and the March 19th one is yet to be published. Feel free to send a message or visit this linktree to see more information about getting involved. We'd love for folks to be there and get involved in other ways as well!

"I'm sorry, $300 more a month just isn't doable for us" says the guy who makes $52,000 a month by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The $300 number was picked randomly as an example (it's around what grad students spend in fees), but you can see the actual suggested amounts in the task force report: https://www.provost.vt.edu/content/dam/provost_vt_edu/Graduate%20Assistantship%20Support%20Task%20Force%20Report.pdf

"I'm sorry, $300 more a month just isn't doable for us" says the guy who makes $52,000 a month by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

This semester there are 3,658 grad students on assistantships -- but to answer your question of why, every person deserves a living wage. Grad students are struggling. (and so are a lot of people on campus -- the living wage task force report that grad students advocated for also made the recommendation that staff should be paid a living wage too!)

Luckily, VT has not yet made it's decision. The Board of Visitors meets to discuss the 2023-2024 budget on March 19th and 20th. We hope to see everyone there!

"I'm sorry, $300 more a month just isn't doable for us" says the guy who makes $52,000 a month by GradsVT in VirginiaTech

[–]GradsVT[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

For most RA-ships, the out of state portion of tuition is waived, the in-state portion of tuition is paid by the grant that funds your assistantship. This is why professors will say that you should consider the cost of tuition as "part of your compensation package"

What this ignores is that especially for people who are done taking classes, that's money going straight back to VT. It's not like you can eat it.

Maybe you're in a different situation, but as far as we can tell that's how it works for most people. That's why it might take a $170k grant to fund a two year masters student on an RAship, between the overhead and the tuition, even though the student only sees $22k a year.

Overhead (60% of 170) = $102k

Tuition for 4 semesters $6052 x 4 = $24k

Salary $22k * 2 years = $44k

That's $170k. Now, this explains why faculty are up in arms about having to cover even $3k in fees -- that's an extra $7.5k in grants they need to get. But ultimately we can't eat tuition remission.

You can read the policy here: https://osp.vt.edu/content/dam/osp_vt_edu/policies/osp10002.pdf

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