To: OSU Faculty and Staff
From: Edward Feser, Provost and Executive Vice President
March 4, 2020
Dear OSU Colleagues,
On Feb. 24, 2020, I sent an update regarding negotiations between the university and the Coalition of Graduate Employees (CGE). In the message, I wrote that – among other things – CGE is seeking “an increase of 18.6% in minimum monthly graduate assistant salaries, from $3,922 to $4,650. This would result in an estimated additional annual expense of $2.2 million.”
“Minimum monthly” salary on a 1.0 full time equivalent (FTE) basis is the agreed benchmark used in the collective bargaining agreement and in negotiations at the table to set assistantship salaries. However, graduate assistants are appointed on a part-time basis, from 0.3 FTE to 0.49 FTE. Thus, the monthly earnings of an assistant at the contract minimum salary level currently ranges from $1,177 (0.3 FTE) to $1,922 (0.49 FTE) depending on an employee’s FTE status and part-time work responsibility. The actual average monthly salary for all assistants at OSU is $2,028, with a range across colleges of $1,599 to $2,375.
Given that most in our community are not directly familiar with the CGE contract language, my failure to clarify terms implied that assistants’ actual earnings are equivalent to the 1.0 FTE minimum rate. I regret that confusion; they are not. I should also emphasize that our best estimate of the $2.2 million annual cost of increasing the minimum rate by 18.6 percent is correct and is based on actual graduate assistant FTEs across the university.
We have updated the university’s bargaining website to ensure clarity around contract minimum and actual stipend levels. For details, please visit this link to the bargaining requests sought by CGE.
We will continue to provide the OSU community regular updates on graduate assistant bargaining, which you may follow on the university’s CGE bargaining website.
Sincerely,
Edward Feser
Provost and Executive Vice President