50 signatures reached
To: Rutgers Administration and GSE Leadership
#FundRGrads: Equitable Covid Relief for GSE Graduate Students
Funded doctoral students who have continued to meet the demands of the GSE to continue working throughout the pandemic have been denied a funding extensions for the 2022-2023 year.
We were told that one line of fellowship funding would be available for us to compete over via a 250-word essay contest. We will not be participating in this competition. Last week a group of affected students submitted a statement to Benjamin Justice, our Graduate Program Director, and select faculty members, outlining our refusal to engage in a Hunger Games-style application process for funding.
Funding provides more than a paycheck; our contracts cover tuition remission, student fees, and most importantly–HEALTH INSURANCE. It is inhumane that we would lose basic health coverage, but especially so during an ongoing pandemic.
We are asking for faculty to support graduate students by signing the petition to extend funding for 5th year doctoral students for an additional year.
Why is this important?
A robust PhD program is a vital component of a research university. Producing scholarship is a cumulative process and interruptions have lasting effects. Rutgers understands this as they have offered accommodations for faculty – namely, tenure timetable extensions. Accommodations must also be made for graduate students. The administration must commit to an additional year of funding for ALL of those affected.