In a letter sent to University President John T. Casteen, III and other administrators last Monday, the Graduate Labor Union requested that certain graduate fees be decreased, according to former GLU treasurer Bill Craighead, an Economics graduate student.
The letter also calls for a commitment from the University to discontinue the practice of increasing the graduate fees proportionally to undergraduate tuition and fee increases. According to the letter, the graduate fees have increased from $836 to $1,298.50 per semester in the past two years.
The fees mentioned in the letter apply specifically to graduate students who are not enrolled in academic courses but who may be teaching or working on their dissertations.
"There is no reason for graduate students to be paying these fees at all -- graduate students are low paid," Craighead said. "I doubt that it has a significant impact on the University's budget."
Craighead said not all graduate students are equally affected by the fee increases. For example, the history department covers some of these fees for graduate students.
University spokesperson Carol Wood said she thinks the fees apply to a small proportion of the University graduate student population.
"From my understanding this affects very few students -- less than 25 and in most cases it appears the fee gets paid by the department," Wood said.
According to Collette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget, the fees are for the use of University resources such as computer and library access. Sheehy said graduate students working toward their Ph.D. typically use these resources "more intensively" than undergraduate students.
The letter was written by Craighead and signed by GLU President Ethan Sribnick. Wood said the administrators had not reported receiving the letter as of yesterday afternoon.
Sheehy, who was forwarded the letter in an e-mail from Wood yesterday, said reducing graduate tuition and fees was an important issue.
"There are a lot of issues with graduate tuition," Sheehy said. "We are going to spend the next couple months working with the deans. There is a need to fund more graduate financial aid."
Sheehy said undergraduate students should not be forced to solely bear the burden of tuition increases in past years.
"The problem is that nobody wants graduate tuition to go up," Sheehy said. "We take particular care in determining the increases we give to graduate students."
According to Craighead, who is a paid faculty member, the increases are equivalent to a pay cut.
"I don't think that President Casteen took a pay cut, so then why us?" Craighead said.
According to Sheehy, the situation can be compared to a time when a lack of state funding prevented raises for some University employees while other fees, such as parking rates, increased.
"Life is not always fair -- costs go up and everyone needs to share in those cost increases," Sheehy said.
Craighead said he hopes the letter will help foster attention to the issue of graduate tuition and fee increases.
"If the aim is really to make U.Va. one of the best in the country, then graduate programs are one area where they need improvement," Craighead said.
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