Dear Utah State University Administration and Utah State Legislature,

Utah State University has made important strides both as a research institution and as an engine of social mobility, rising up in the ranks from its R2 status to the much-coveted R1 status, which is conferred upon only about 4% of all US universities. These achievements are the result of not only the efforts of faculty, administrators, and staff, but also the hard work of the University’s graduate and undergraduate student body. As an institution of higher education, Utah State University is committed to providing a quality education to all its students, and its mission statements emphasize the importance of supporting students in their academic and professional pursuits.

However, despite the University’s commitment to serving as a paragon of inclusive excellence, due to the current assistantship pay levels for graduate students failing to align with the university's stated mission and the Living Wage at Cache County, many of the University’s graduate students are in financially precarious situations, including excessive levels of debt, unreported employment, physical and mental health crises, and even homelessness, all of which detract from our academic work and success at the University.

Increasing graduate student pay is not only equitable but necessary. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, “[t]he living wage is the minimum income standard that, if met, draws a very fine line between the financial independence of the working poor and the need to seek out public assistance or suffer consistent and severe housing and food insecurity. In light of this fact, the living wage is perhaps better defined as a minimum subsistence wage for persons living in the United States.”

The Living Wage for one adult with no children in Cache County is $32,267 per year. In comparison, Utah State University graduate employees make between $7,444 (lowest college-average) and $22,562 (highest college-average) with an overall University-average yearly salary of $15,005 (all-college average). This is only 23 percent (lowest), 70 percent (highest), and 46 percent, respectively, of the minimum subsistence wage needed to survive. We, Utah State University, a land-grant institution, need to do better to honor the Morrill Act - that is based on the noble tenet of establishing "the opportunity of affordable higher education for the working class" - on which it was founded. 

Even though graduate student employees are contractually obligated to spend no more than 20 hours a week on TA/GA/RA duties, we should be paid the living wage of a full-time employee as we do not have the time to work further hours without compromising our academic output. Further, much of our academic output is research independent of our coursework, which is labor from which the University benefits. A significant bulk of all pedagogical labor at the University is performed by graduate employees - teaching, grading, research, coursework. Combining TA/GA/RA duties with the work coming from classes and research, graduate employees usually work 60-80 hours a week.

Graduate students are professionals— the majority of us are not supported by parents, and we often have our own families and children to support. Many of us also have additional financial responsibilities such as caregiving for elderly parents or personal medical conditions for which treatment is unattainable with our current pay, even after accounting for insurance, etc. Overall, the situation for graduate students at Utah State University is untenable and inhumane.

Therefore, we, the undersigned graduate students, urge Utah State University and the Utah State Legislature to take immediate action to increase graduate student pay to a level that is commensurate with the Cache County living wage. Doing so will not only benefit graduate students but also help promote the university's academic and research excellence.

 

Note (updated 04/10/2023): All present and past USU community members - students, faculty, and staff - are welcome to sign this petition.

If you are a current USU graduate student, sign using either one of the following formats:

• First Name: Saadib; Last Name: Chowdhury
• First Name: Anonymous; Last Name: N/A

If you are not a current USU graduate student and would like to sign this petition, please indicate your affiliation using the appropriate format from below: 

• First Name: Saadib; Last Name: Chowdhury ([current/former] staff)
• First Name: Saadib; Last Name: Chowdhury ([graduate/undergraduate/graduate+undergraduate] alumni)
• First Name: Saadib; Last Name: Chowdhury ([undergraduate student)
• First Name: Saadib; Last Name: Chowdhury ([current/former] faculty)

Non-graduate students can also leave their names anonymous, while indicating their position, for example:

• First Name: Anonymous; Last Name: N/A (current staff)