03/25/2014
Friends, today marks the one-year anniversary of the sending of our official petition and list of grievances to the UH administration-- the document that led to our sit-in and, eventually, our raise!
Remember this?
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March 25, 2013
Dear President Khator, Provost Short, Dean Roberts, and Dr. Herendeen,
We, the Teaching Fellows of the University of Houston English Department, petition the University administration to engage in a conversation with its students and department representatives about the conditions of our employment. The UH English Department has brought prestige to the University for many years; its students publish widely and go on to successful careers as writers and professors. Despite its high ranking, the UH English Department does not currently offer a salary that is competitive with that offered by other programs of similar rank (see attached charts; each has multiple tabs).
The PhD program in Creative Writing and Literature is currently ranked fourth in the nation, having slipped from first several years ago. It would take only a small amount of money for the program to regain its status as the top-ranked program in the nation, which would attract high-quality applicants and bring additional prestige to the University.
By collectively offering our signatures, we express our discontent with the circumstances outlined below:
1. MFA and PhD TFs in the English department have been making $9,600 and $11,200 per year, respectively, since at least 1993. Adjusting for inflation over the last twenty years, this would equal $15,298 and $17,848 per year in 2013. No such adjustments have been made in the last two decades.
2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculation for the city of Houston is $19,213. TFs in the English department earn about half this living wage and are unable to meet their basic living expenses on their current salaries. Moreover, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, TFs are paid significantly less than the bottom 10th percentile of Houston salaries, which comes in at $16,000.
3. TFs pursuing PhDs currently pay about 16% of their $11,200 per year income straight back to UH through fees, which were increased last year to nearly $1,685.70 per year. For TFs pursuing MFAs, this amount is closer to 19% of their $9,600 per year income. This is a problem not only because TFs are not actually taking home the salary we were offered in our recruitment letters, but also because workplace law obligates students to work only for the university.
This obligation is impossible for most students to obey since they are unable to live off of the approximately $9,400 (for PhDs) or $7,800 (for MFAs) that they earn per year after fees. A recent survey revealed that 71% of English TFs at the University of Houston work an average of 1.9 outside jobs in order to cover basic living expenses, receiving an average of 42% of their income from outside sources. 87% of TFs feel that it is necessary to work additional jobs “because they cannot adequately live on [their] TF stipend[s].”
4. Responses given by University of Houston English TFs display their inability to uphold the University’s mission statement of “creating an environment in which student success can be ensured” (“University of Houston Goals”).
On average, University of Houston English TFs are working 36.9 hours per week, including all teaching responsibilities and non-teaching related work--work that they feel is necessary to cover basic living expenses. This does not include any time spent attending or preparing for the graduate classes in which they are students, or any additional professional development activities. 81.6% of English TFs believe they “would be able to deliver a better educational experience to UH undergrads if I did not have to work additional jobs.”
5. TFs on the University health care plan currently pay $766.71 per year in insurance costs which is subtracted directly from take-home pay; this represents another 8% of MFA salaries and 7% of PhD salaries.
We hereby petition for:
- A fair and just salary of $19,213.00 (Houston’s living wage).
- Full remission of fees: $1,685.70 per year.
- All insurance expenses to be covered by the University: $766.71 per year.
= $21,665.41 per student per year
We would love to hear back from you by the end of the week. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
University of Houston English Teaching Fellows
[email protected]
