Hey!
My name is Gabe, and I’m an undergraduate TA for CS 61A, and also one of your union representatives for UAW 2865, the union of 36,000 TAs, tutors, readers, and student researchers across the University of California. You’ll likely hear from me throughout the semester about issues that affect you as an EECS/DS ASE; I wanted to start by sharing some important information about your fee remission this semester. This email is somewhat long, but I promise you’ll want to read to the end of it.
1. For the first time ever, undergraduate tutors/UCS1s and readers will receive some amount of fee remission.
It is, admittedly, not very much as the only fee covered is the instructional resilience and enhancement fee (IREF). For readers & tutors appointed at 10+ hours per week, 100% of the IREF is refunded. At <10 hours per week, about 29% of IREF is refunded.
IREF remission for tutors/UCS1s and readers
| Hours appointed | Fees remitted |
| 12 | $117.50 |
| 10 | $117.50 |
| 8 | $35.00 |
| 6 | $35.00 |
We got this fee remission because of a grievance filed by ASEs earlier this year that alleged a violation of our contract. While the amount of fee remission is small, the fact that tutors and readers are being included within the institution of fee remission for the first time ever is extremely promising. It sets a starting point for these benefits to be expanded in future rounds of bargaining. Please see the reader/tutor fee remission page for more information.
2. We’re making it easy for TAs/UCS2s to figure out how much fee remission you’re owed.
Historically, it’s been very difficult for UCS2s to figure out how much fee remission you’re owed. Using the below table, you can determine the total amount of fee remission you should have received based on 1) Your appointed hours and 2) Your tuition cohort (i.e. the first academic year on or after 2021-22 that you were at Berkeley):
Total fee remission for TAs/UCS2s
| Hours appointed | Fee remission percentage | 21-22 cohort | 22-23 cohort | 23-24 cohort |
| >12 | 100% | $7,327.50 | $7,594.50 | $7,918.50 |
| 12 | 60% | $4,443.50 | $4,603.70 | $4,798.10 |
| 10 | 50% | $3,722.50 | $3,856.00 | $4,018.00 |
| 8 | 40% | $2,931.00 | $3,037.80 | $3,167.40 |
Fee remission for UCS2s is a refund of resident tuition, the student services fee, the Berkeley Campus Fee, the Class Pass fee, and IREF. See the TA/UCS2 fee remission page for more information.
UCS2s – you might have noticed recently that your fee remission was increased. This happened because ASE representatives in EECS/DS recently discussed with the university and got them to start remitting the ClassPass fee to all UCS2s.
3. You can check your fee remission in CalCentral.
Fees for undergraduates are remitted as a departmental award in your financial aid portal in CalCentral. You can see the fees that your fee remission has paid by viewing the transaction in My Finances > Transactions. Please see the fee remission logistics page for more information.
It is likely that your fees were remitted as two separate departmental awards in CalCentral. As you check for the amount, make sure to account for both awards.
If you have any issue with your fee remission, please email berkeley+eecsds@uaw2865.org or respond to this message so that we can help you resolve the issue.
4. We only have fee remission because we work together through our union.
Every time our union has negotiated with the university, ASEs have democratically decided to make fee remission a top priority. The only reason undergrads receive any amount of fee remission is because we acted through our union to secure it – and that only works because a supermajority of EECS/DS ASEs choose to be dues-paying members. Can you take a moment to join at uaw2865.org/join to opt in to the workplace democracy that made these wins possible?
Best,
Gabe Classon