Statement of Support for the Organizing of the Graduate Student Research Assistants by the AFT at the University of Michigan

The Michigan Conference of the American Association of University Professors (MI-AAUP) supports the efforts of the graduate student research assistants at the University of Michigan to form a union for collective bargaining.

“The MI-AAUP believes that the graduate research assistants at the University of Michigan, like other research assistants at several institutions, are employees and therefore eligible for collective bargaining rights as afforded under Michigan law,” said Susan Moller, President of the MI-AAUP.

In taking this position, the MI-AAUP supports the decision of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, which in May 2011 recognized graduate student research assistants as employees with the right to vote to form a union.

“There is substantial evidence to confirm GSRAs’ employee status,” Moeller said. “They receive W-2s from the University; they receive appointments, stipends, tuition waivers and benefits consistent with Graduate Student Instructors and Graduate Student Staff Assistants who are classified as employees; they perform identical work as post-doctoral fellows, who are also classified as employees. The bottom line is that GSRAs are compensated for work that benefits the University.”

The Michigan AAUP stands in support of the Graduate Employees Organization and AFT Michigan as they work to help graduate student research assistants at the University of Michigan organize, and calls upon other higher education organizations to make similar statements.

“Finally, we call upon our faculty colleagues at the University of Michigan not to attempt to affect the outcome of the vote,” said Moeller. “For the right to vote to be meaningful, it has to be exercised without even the appearance of intimidation or restraint.”

Michigan Democrats developing college grant plan

Published: Thursday, January 12, 2012, 12:04 AM     Updated: Thursday, January 12, 2012, 12:09 AM

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Democrats in the Michigan Senate said Wednesday they're developing a proposal that would allow Michigan high school graduates to get grants of up to roughly $9,500 a year for attending college by ending some business tax credits and other revenue changes.

The grants could be used to pay tuition or associated costs at public universities and community colleges in the state. The money would be raised by closing what Democrats call tax loopholes and ending some business tax credits, collecting sales tax from out-of-state Internet retailers and saving money on state contracts.

Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, the Senate's Democratic leader, said investment in education is needed to revitalize Michigan and boost its economy. State aid for public education has dwindled in recent years, with universities facing a 15 percent reduction in state aid for operations in the current fiscal year. Universities say reduced state aid is a major factor contributing to tuition increases.

Domestic partners sue Snyder, state over law prohibiting providing health insurance

By David Ashenfelter

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Jan 6, 2012

Gerardo Ascheri says he thought he had escaped repression when he emigrated from Argentina to the U.S. in 1987 and eventually became an American citizen.
But the 54-year-old self-employed East Lansing music teacher said things changed Dec. 22 when Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation that immediately prohibits certain public employers from providing health insurance and other benefits to domestic partners.

"It comes as a shock to me that all of a sudden, I am again a second-class citizen," a tearful Ascheri said at a news conference Thursday in Detroit where the American Civil Liberties Union announced the filing of a federal lawsuit against Snyder and the state to strike down the law.

Thanks to Snyder and the Legislature, Ascheri said he no longer qualifies for health coverage through his long-term partner, Doak Bloss, Ingham County's health equity and social justice coordinator.

Community college in Michigan ramps up tenure-track faculty [1]
Submitted by Paul Fain [2] on December 20, 2011 - 3:00am

Delta College, a two-year institution located in Michigan, has moved to make all of its full-time faculty positions either tenured or tenure-track. That means about 55 instructors at Delta have the option of replacing their one-year renewable contracts with tenure-track status.

The decision bucks a trend toward the hiring of adjunct professors and keeping them off the tenure track, at community colleges and across most of higher education. And the conversion of existing positions to tenured, as opposed to just hiring new professors, is considered the Holy Grail for adjunct advocates.