NORMALLY, we think of Third World countries when we think of an employer that abuses its labor force. But such exploitation is going on right here on Mr. Jefferson's hallowed Grounds.
As they do in sweatshops in Third World countries, the day-to-day operations of the University depend on workers who are under-compensated for their work. In factories, these workers are manual laborers, whose labor promotes the commercial success of a corporation. At the University, these workers -- the University's graduate students -- bear a large responsibility in the educational success of the University.
Graduate students in virtually every department teach undergraduates. In some cases, grad students serve as teaching assistants; in others, they teach on their own.
As a result, almost every undergraduate will be taught by a grad student at some point during his or her four years here. In many respects, graduate students are responsible for more of the actual educating that goes on at the University than faculty are.
Professors communicate knowledge to students, typically through lectures. This is crucial -- knowledge is the starting point for education. But it isn't the ending point. Knowledge is relatively worthless without the skills to use it. TAs, not professors, are the ones who teach these skills in labs and sections.
This is no small task. For example, graduate students in the English department spend roughly 20 hours per week on each course they teach, according to a personal interview with Eric Caldwell, an English TA and organizer for the Working Group for Graduate Student Issues. Yet TAs are only paid for approximately 10 hours of work per week.
Caldwell said English TAs make roughly $8,000 if they teach the suggested one course per semester, and that salaries in other departments are similar. Furthermore, because they are considered part-time employees, TAs get no health care benefits.
Grad students are required, however, to obtain health insurance. Coverage through the University's provider, QualChoice, costs a minimum of about $800 a year, which is approximately 10 percent of a TA's annual income.
I'm not suggesting the University start paying TAs six figures or buying them company cars. But basic fairness demands that their salaries and benefits reflect the work they do. Grad students are not gophers who do the photocopying and office errands for the real teachers. They play an important teaching role, and ought to be recognized for it.
This isn't just an isolated injustice that concerns only graduate students. Even if the idea of fairness isn't enough for undergraduates to support grad students' demands for higher pay and more benefits, there are a number of selfish reasons to do so.
Undergraduates should care about the poor level of compensation TAs receive because we depend on graduate students for our education. The academic strength of the University depends on having the best teachers -- both professors and TAs.
Low salaries and inadequate benefits have the potential to prompt good graduate students to go elsewhere. If that happens on a large scale, the quality of an undergraduate education here will suffer.
In addition to the negative effects of under-compensation on the quality of grad students, future consequences are likely to be even less desirable for undergraduates.
Grad students have several options if the University refuses to address their concerns. They could decide to unionize and/or strike, which would disrupt classes and could cause classes to be cancelled or substitute instructors to be hired. Another option is to "work to rule," which means TAs would simply stop grading papers or monitoring labs as soon as they reached the 10 hours per week for which they are paid. A final recourse would be for grad students to file a class-action suit against the University. These events, too, would disrupt academic affairs and prevent TAs from teaching effectively.
Undergraduates should want to avoid all of these possibilities. This conflict isn't likely to go away until the University acknowledges the importance of graduate students as teachers. But fairness demands that the University increase compensation and benefits for grad students, and self-interest should drive undergraduates to help them.
Talk to your TAs. Ask them how they feel about the issue. Most importantly, talk with other undergraduates. Once the University community collectively recognizes the need to pay TAs more and provide benefits, the administration will be forced to work towards finding the money to do so.
That should be our communal goal. Any step away from exploiting grad student labor is a step in the right direction.
(Bryan Maxwell is a Cavalier Daily associate editor.)
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