We’re entering week 4 of the effort to negotiate increased staffing within the EECS/DS departments, and major progress is being made. On Monday and Friday, ASEs passed back our first supposals to the university, laying out our vision for the staffing in the EECS/DS departments, including the creation of a flexible undergraduate staffing structure that addresses many of the unique circumstances within the EECS/DS departments.
While ASEs have made significant progress, there is an unacceptable lack of commitment of the central campus administration to this bargaining process. During Friday’s bargaining session, Professor John DeNero noted that campus administrators rejected the idea of providing additional funding earmarked for fee remissions. Prof. DeNero added that central campus views the current system for funding temporary academic staff—including ASEs—as generally fair. Campus administration seems to largely be committed to a “one size fits all” way of funding departments, ignoring the unique challenges that have affected EECS/DS for years. Any reasonable resolution to this bargaining process will require a commitment from central campus to invest in the department’s educational mission. And while we greatly appreciate the time and efforts of faculty on the university’s side of the bargaining table, central campus administrators must also be in the bargaining room if this process is to be successful.
On Thursday, March 9, at 6:30 p.m., we will hold an info-rally in Soda 465H and on Zoom to motivate support for our cause and discuss how we will put pressure on central campus administrators to show up and invest in education. This is a critical point in the bargaining process that could make or break the future of the departments, so we’ll need as many ASEs as possible to show up to this event. As the largest departments on campus, EECS/DS has the ability to demand more from central campus—all we need to do is show up and make our voice heard.
Supposals
You can read Part A and Part B of the supposals in full, but here is a summary of where we are so far. Please note that these are our first supposals, and we will continue to engage with ASEs, the department, and the university to find a fair settlement to this crisis.
- A new title: ASEs proposed the creation of a new job title solely for use in the EECS department that will better reflect current practices in the department and give undergraduates greater flexibility and opportunities for development.
- Course Staff III (8–20 hours): Takes on many of the current duties of head TAs, and can perform a broad array of administrative and course support duties in addition to a broad array of student-facing instructional work..
- Course Staff II (8–12 hours): Primarily teaches discussion/lab sections of up to 30 students each alongside other instructional work, such as holding office hours.
- Course Staff I (6–12 hours): Primarily hosts small group tutoring, holds office hours, and other student-facing instructional work.
- Readers: Same as now, with an emphasis that readers cannot hold office hours.
- Pipelining and development: Currently, many courses allow 8-hour positions to assist in administrative duties that are primarily completed by head TAs, and we wish to continue to provide people with the opportunity to engage in these valuable learning experiences. Course Staff I and II may spend up to 25% of their time assisting in these duties.
- Workload flexibility: Course Staff II will be available for appointments of 8, 10, and 12 hours, opening up the opportunity for more teaching positions beyond the 8- and 20-hour buckets that exist today.
- Wages and remission:
- Course Staff III will initially have wages equal to that of other GSIs at UC Berkeley but will see lower raises over the course of the lifetime of our union contract (46% vs. 57%). They will receive 100% fee remission when they work 10+ hours per week and a lower fee remission at 8 hours per week.
- Course Staff II will have salaries equal to those of Course Staff III, and will receive a portion of fee remission based on how many hours they are appointed to. (8 hours = 60%, 10 hours = 70%, 12 hours = 80%)
- Course Staff I will have hourly wages equal to those of group tutors at Berkeley ($20.19) and will receive a 15% fee remission to reflect the fact that they will be taking on some of the duties traditionally assigned to teaching assistants. Course Staff I will receive the full $3.50 raise guaranteed to hourly workers under the union contract.
- Staffing levels: Agreeing to wage increases and remissions lower than what is guaranteed under our contract is an exceptional move, and ASEs therefore expect the university to commit to increasing staff resources per student by an exceptional degree before we consider these changes.
- Fair hiring: ASEs have proposed language that would require the department to mitigate the personal biases of head TAs who help review candidates in the hiring process. The supposals would also make representation in hiring an explicit goal of the union and university. ASEs will continue to consider more specific measures on these fronts.
- Summer session: ASEs proposed requiring the department to provide 375 pedagogy courses at no cost to first time Course Staffs II and III over the summer. Returning course staff will be eligible to take up to two Summer Session credits at no cost.
- Overwork protections: In response to cultural and technical challenges to addressing overwork, ASEs proposed the following measures:
- A message on job applications and postings that overworking yourself doesn’t give you an advantage in the hiring process.
- Requiring all courses to provide ASEs with an approximate breakdown of their job duties and how much time they should dedicate to each. Explicit time would be set aside for prep, with more set aside for first-time course staff.
- The creation of an expedited process for addressing overwork.
Other points covered:
- Model: ASEs are continuing to work with Professor DeNero to create a better model for the ideal staffing figures within each course using information provided by head TAs and instructors.
- Negotiations extension: Both sides agreed to extend the bargaining process through Wednesday, March 15.
This week’s bargaining schedule:
- Monday March 6
- Pre-caucus: 12:30-1:10 p.m. in Soda 373
- Bargaining session: 1:10-2:30 p.m. in Soda 373
- Post-caucus: 2:30 p.m. in Soda 373
- Wednesday March 8
- Pre-caucus: 2:30-3:10 p.m. in Soda 511
- Bargaining session: 3:10-5 p.m. in Soda 320
- Post-caucus: 5 p.m. in Soda 373
- Friday March 10
- Pre-caucus: 9:30-10:10 a.m. in Soda 380
- Bargaining session: 10:10-11 a.m. in Soda 380
- Post-caucus: 11 a.m.-12 p.m. in Soda 380
- You can also join the bargaining sessions via Zoom at https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/95216694463. Caucuses are not accessible via this Zoom. If you are an ASE who would like to join the caucuses virtually, please let me know and we will send you a special Zoom link.
If you have any questions or comments about the supposals or the bargaining process, please feel free to send them to me, and I will share them with the bargaining team.
In solidarity,
Gabe Classon (he/him)
CS 61A uGSI