Graduate Life

The Research Assistants of Stony Brook University and the SUNY Research Foundation began hearings before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last Friday. The hearings, which continued all week, are a precursor to a secret ballot election which will determine whether or not the research assistants will officially join a union – in this case, the Communication Workers of America.

Research assistants were embroiled in a dispute with Stony Brook University administration last weekend when a rally permit they submitted was held in limbo. Stony Brook University’s research assistants allege that the school tried to impede their attempts to unionize.

Want to find out what's awaiting you when you graduate Stony Brook? Read this new series of columns from students that are living through their post-Stony Brook Lives.

"I had heard many stories about medical school being arduous, with medical students spending their days studying and having no real free time. I regret to inform you, my dear reader, that this is more or less the case..."

News of the Graduate Student Organization's outrage over increased stipends for incoming teaching assistants shocked Stony Brook officials and left current graduate assistants feeling under appreciated and underpaid.

Wielding a megaphone and a multitude of signs, approximately 40 graduate students from the Stony Brook division of the Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU/CWA1104) rallied by the fountain on March 28 to advocate for better wages, benefits and respect for graduate student employees.