Dear Members of the Brown Community,

 

We are writing with an update regarding the ongoing negotiations between Brown and the union that represents graduate students engaged in teaching and research positions. The current 2020 agreement between Brown and the Graduate Labor Organization (GLO) expires on June 30, 2023, and we have been at the bargaining table since February seeking agreement on a new contract. Unfortunately, we remain very far apart on core issues, and there is no expectation that a successor agreement or an extension will be in place by the expiration date later this week.

 

We have witnessed the impact of unresolved labor negotiations at universities across the country, and it’s important that the Brown community understands the commitment the University has demonstrated to supporting our graduate students, and the deep care and attention we have devoted to seeking a new agreement. In addition, the absence of a new agreement effective July 1 may prompt questions about the continuity of key aspects of academic life at Brown. In this detailed letter, we address a number of questions that our community may have about the negotiations and what lies ahead. 

 

We invite you to read this letter carefully. It expands upon the following points:

 

1. The current status of negotiations and the factors impeding progress on an agreement. We outline the University’s concerns over the union’s efforts to introduce union grievance procedures into academic matters, as well as concerns over adding students who are not employees — those on fellowships — to the bargaining unit. We discuss why the University did not feel that the union’s original request for a 25% stipend increase was equitable. We explain that this would far exceed increases for other Brown employees, and that this sharp increase is not feasible in light of constraints on grant funding and University funding.

2. What Brown currently offers graduate students in terms of support and benefits. We share details about the $43,791 Brown has set for doctoral fellowships this coming year, establishing base stipends that are among the top of all institutions across the country (stipends for bargaining unit positions will be even higher than the fellowship rates). This is in addition to extensive benefits supporting quality of life.

3. The definition of the graduate students included in the bargaining unit, and the roles they play in research and instruction. We explain how membership in the bargaining unit is determined by financial support for research and instructional services, and we specify the number of positions affected by the current negotiations, based on the academic cycle.

4. The University’s most recent proposal. We share that Brown’s current offer is to increase bargaining unit stipends by 6.25% over this year, to $45,063, in addition to enhancing a number of benefits that support graduate students. 

5. What happens next in the absence of an agreement on July 1, 2023. We explain the recommendation the University has made to GLO to allow their membership to vote on the current proposals, and we outline interim steps to continue graduate student appointments this summer.

 

It’s worth noting that, even as national news headlines share accounts of truly challenging labor environments at some schools, Brown has stood out for the support we offer to graduate students. In addition to stipends that are among the top nationally, doctoral students also receive full tuition covered by the University ($65,656 in 2023-2024) and generous benefits. These include full health and dental insurance, as well as the majority of the premium coverage for dependents and spouses; childcare subsidies; parental relief that provides students with an additional semester of funding for the birth or adoption of a child, without academic or service expectations; and research and travel funding to support their careers. 

 

With increases in stipends and benefits over the past several years, we have ensured that students are well supported to earn a graduate degree from one of the world’s premier universities.

 

1.  Current Negotiation Status and Core Issues

 

The union’s first proposal for a base stipend increase for the 2023-2024 academic year was for a 25% increase, far exceeding salary increases for all other employee groups at the University, including faculty, staff and other collective bargaining unit employees. Beyond equity issues, such a dramatic spike would also strain external faculty grant funds that provide the financial support for many of our students, as well as University budgets for funding.

 

The University responded with a proposed increase of 5%. The University administration felt this counterproposal represented a generous offer in light of equity with other employee groups, comparison to peer institutions, Brown’s fiscal constraints and the record investment in graduate education over the past five years. The University’s latest proposed increase is 6.25%.

 

Another point of disagreement is GLO’s proposal to introduce provisions about retaliation that would, in effect, make the faculty’s judgement regarding the quality of academic performance subject to union grievance processes. The University cannot support an approach that views any aspect of academic standing through the lens of employment status. 

 

In addition, GLO seeks to expand the union by including graduate students who are on fellowships. These students do not serve as research assistants (RAs), teaching assistants (TAs) or proctors, and therefore do not meet the common law definition of employees, a fundamental point confirmed by Region 1 of the National Labor Relations Board.

 

After the union had been engaging in negotiations for several weeks, and had reduced their proposed stipend increase from 25% to 17.8%, they informed the University last week that they would not offer further counterproposals on the stipend and related economic terms at this time. GLO wishes instead to spend the summer on other issues in the contract. Unfortunately, this does not serve or support graduate students who are expecting to be in positions as RAs, TAs or proctors in the fall semester. It means these graduates students currently do not know how much they will be paid in those positions. 

 

2.  What Brown Currently Offers in Graduate Student Support

 

With doctoral fellowships of $43,791 this coming year, Brown is well above most, if not all, of its peer institutions in the Ivy Plus (including the Ivy League, plus Stanford, MIT and the University of Chicago), controlling for cost of living. A prominent calculator for cost of living equates Brown’s bargaining unit stipend offer to $55,116 in Palo Alto, California, where Stanford provides the highest stipend of just under $53,000.

 

In real dollars, Brown’s base stipends have risen to be among the highest in the country after substantial investments over the past five years in stipends and other benefits. Between Fiscal Year 2018 and Fiscal Year 2023, stipends increased by 50% for students in the humanities and social sciences and 35% in the sciences. Brown also provides additional support for students holding some appointments, such as Teaching Assistant II and Teaching Fellow. Brown has been committed to providing generous stipends and benefits for all doctoral students, regardless of their appointment during a particular semester. This support enables doctoral students to focus full time on their academic progress and training. 

 

In addition to the base stipend, Brown’s benefits to Ph.D. and MFA students include:

 

• Full tuition scholarship ($65,656)

• A first-year supplemental fellowship for incoming students ($1,200)

• Full coverage of health insurance premium ($4,636) and a 75% subsidy for dependents

• Full coverage of dental insurance premium ($258.72) and a 75% subsidy for dependents

• Parental support including a childcare subsidy of $5,000 per child per year up to age 6

• Parental relief, which provides a full semester (4.5 months) where academic and service-based expectations are paused but funding remains

• Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and University Health Services access

• Graduate School incentive supplements for doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences with external fellowship awards

• Travel and research funding

• Emergency funding and short-term loans

 

3.  The University’s Most Recent Proposal 

 

Brown’s negotiations with GLO have taken place within the aforementioned context of substantial investment. Recognizing that many conditions of employment and contract terms will need to be negotiated in the coming months, bargaining discussions have focused on securing agreement on a narrow set of economic terms that would extend the current contract past the June 30 expiration. 

 

The University made a proposal on June 13, 2023, that provided for:

 

• A stipend increase for bargaining unit positions of 6.25%

• A Cost of Health Care Assistance payment of $650, which would be made in October 2023 to all Ph.D. and MFA students, whether or not they are in bargaining unit positions this fall

• An increase in the supplemental fellowship payment from $1,200 to $1,750 beginning in fall 2024

• A 100% subsidy for health and dental insurance for dependent children and dependent spouses/partners on international visas who are unable to work in the United States

• Increases in child care subsidies and eligibility

• A minimum wage of $22.50 per hour for graduate students hired into hourly positions

 

In the interest of transparency, the full current proposal from the University is available on the Office of the Provost website. 

 

4.  Graduate Students Affected by Union Negotiations

 

While Brown currently enrolls approximately 3,000 graduate students, including more than 1,600 who are enrolled in doctoral and Master of Fine Arts programs, roughly 1,000 graduate students are included in the bargaining unit in a typical semester. During the typical summer, around 500 graduate students are included. These numbers reflect the graduate students actively providing research and instructional services, and therefore qualifying as compensated employees.

 

The Graduate School offers incoming doctoral and MFA students financial packages intended to enable students to devote themselves full time to their degrees. Funding is guaranteed for two or three years for MFA students and five or six years for doctoral students. Ph.D. and MFA students who receive this level of funding have as a condition of their stipend an expectation that they will, at certain points in their education, serve in positions providing research or instructional services, typically as RAs, TAs or proctors. When in these positions, graduate students are eligible under the National Labor Relations Act to form a union. 

 

Unlike more traditional labor unions, graduate students' inclusion in the bargaining unit can change on a semesterly basis, or every 4.5 months. At all times, graduate students at Brown are students. However, the collective bargaining agreement in place between Brown and GLO only applies to graduate students when they are in bargaining unit positions as RAs, TAs or proctors. Students on fellowship appointments are not employees and are not in the bargaining unit (a recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board Region 1 involving MIT affirmed this point).

 

5.  What’s Next

 

With the June 30 expiration of the current contract with the union, Brown and GLO have agreed that graduate students performing instructional and research services will continue to be paid in July and August, as long as they continue serving in accordance with their appointments. Graduate students working as RAs, TAs and proctors will receive the same 3.25% increase in stipends that were approved for 2023-24 for graduate students holding fellowships.

 

The University will apply any additional increase to graduate student pay arising from a new collective bargaining agreement retroactively. The University pursued this solution to ensure continuity in student stipend payments during the summer months as negotiations continue. We remain committed to arriving at an agreement with GLO as soon as possible. 

 

We hope the GLO bargaining committee will allow the broader graduate student body to have a say in the contract affecting them by putting the University’s latest proposal to their membership for a vote. Graduate students at Brown voted to unionize in 2018 in an environment of positive cooperation between graduate students and the University that was a rare departure from the labor fights at other institutions. We were proud of a process that resulted in a contract that was enthusiastically ratified by the graduate student body three years ago.

 

In an environment of heightened attention to labor conditions around the country, Brown continues to lead in its unwavering commitment to academic excellence, and to fair and generous support for our graduate students.

 

Sincerely,

 

Larry Larson

Interim Provost

 

Thomas A. Lewis

Dean of the Graduate School, effective July 1, 2023

 

Russell C. Carey

Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy