Welcome Back! Fall 2023
Table of Contents:
Announcements:
Hello GEO Member!
We hope you all have had a restful and rejuvenating summer. Please continue reading about the exciting events and news taking place at the start of the Fall semester. The GEO hopes to start off the year strong in providing our graduate students a community of support and solidarity after an intense year of bargaining for our historic contract! This is the time to get involved!
Orientations! (Get Involved & Volunteer)
The start of the semester is right around the corner! Which means we will be very busy welcoming new grads and encouraging them to become members of the GEO. Every year in August, we have our biggest membership recruitment events. Your union is funded through dues so it is imperative during orientation that we recruit the largest number of members into our community. We are only as strong as our number of members representing GEO, and the next few weeks are incredibly important to the overall health and longevity of the union.
Our three big events are Big TA Orientation, ISSS Orientation, and Department Orientations.
The Big TA Orientation is the Center for Innovation Teaching and Learning (CITL) TA training where there will be about ~750 TAs in one place. ISSS (International Student and Scholar Services) Orientation is where we table at their resource fair, so for this one it will be all international graduate students. Department Orientations are where we present to about 50+ departments all around campus. These presentations can range from 10 mins to an hour.
In August 2022, we spoke to over 2,000 graduate students about what GEO is, the benefits of having a union, and why it's important to join, but we can only make this happen if we have enough volunteers.
Volunteers for the Big TA & ISSS orientations will receive free food and GEO swag!
If you’ve never worked an orientation event before and would like some training, please email sc@uigeo.org to schedule a training time.
Here are the descriptions of the different orientations and a link to their sign up (Details will be covered at the training):
Big TA Orientation: This is scheduled for Thursday, August 17–help is needed from 7:30AM-1PM (you can sign up for thirty minute time slots). There are specific times that we need a lot of volunteers noted on the sign up sheet. This will involve tabling and speaking to graduate workers during their before the training, during their breaks and after the training.
ISSS Orientation: This is scheduled for August 17 (12:30PM-4PM) and will involve tabling at the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) resource fair for incoming international students.
Department Orientations: ***Note: This spreadsheet is an active document, please only volunteer and sign-up for the department you are able to assist with.***
Please volunteer to present at your department! We are still working on scheduling a few more departments in case you don’t see your department there. If you volunteer for these, it means you are responsible for coming to the office and picking up your cart/tote bag of orientation materials and bringing the stuff back. If you have questions about the status of your department orientation, please contact us with the email address below.
If you have any questions email sc@uigeo.org or andreaherrera@uigeo.org.
Welcome Back Party | August 26th
Join your fellow grad workers for our annual welcome back—or “Fall Semester Launch”—party on Aug. 26th from 8PM-midnight.
Join us at: Independent Media Center, 202 S Broadway Ave #203, Urbana, IL 61801
GEO members (you can sign a card at the door!) and their +1 (non-UIUC grads only). There will be free food, alcohol, and games!
Please reach out to new grad workers and invite them into our vibrant community!
IFT Fellowship Applications (Hiring Paid Positions!)
The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) at UIUC is seeking organizing fellows to assist organizing initiatives on union committees. These are semester-long hourly fellowships that are paid monthly, from September to December 2023.
Each fellow is expected to work 8-10 hours on average. These positions are flexible and can be structured around current course load, work duties, and research. All training will be provided by GEO leadership and is fully paid. For more detail, please see the application link below.
Help your union build the power we need to enforce our new contract! The GEO is a social justice and labor union that believes in affirmative action and equal employment opportunity. Women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and D/disabled individuals are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants must be current GEO members, and due to grant restrictions applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
Applications are due by Friday, August 18. APPLY HERE.
Questions? Email GEO Staff, Andrea and Lance, at geo@uigeo.org or GEO Co-Presidents, Michael and Daniel, at cc@uigeo.org.
Reminder: Late Notice of Appointment
There is a deadline for when you should receive your TA or GA appointment letter! According to Article IV: D of the Contract, it is 30 days before the start of the Fall or Spring appointment. If you do not receive your appointment letter by that time, you may be entitled to $100. So, for example, if you have an appointment beginning on August 16, you should have received your appointment letter no later than July 17.
If you or a colleague received a late appointment letter, or have not yet received an appointment letter for an appointment beginning in less than 30 days, fill out this form.
As we enter the 23/24 school year we want to continue defending the rights of our members and graduate workers as well as creating a culture of advocacy and organizing, community, and solidarity.
Union Strong,
The GEO Grievance Committee (grievance@uigeo.org)
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org
Forms Linked Above:
GEO Orientation Volunteer Form | IFT Fellowship Application | Contract | Late NOA Form | Department Orientations