Help Sign Up Members at Orientations, GEO at CU Days, & More!
Table of Contents:
ANNOUNCEMENTS & EVENTS
GEO at the New Grad Student Orientations, Come Help Us!
Orientation Training
Big TA Orientation
ISSS Orientation
Department Orientations
GEO at CU Days!
RA/PGA Unionization Townhall Notes
Online Membership Cards!
JOIN A GEO COMMITTEE!
CONNECT WITH GEO!
ANNOUNCEMENTS & EVENTS
GEO at the New Grad Student Orientations, Come Help Us!
Each semester, first-time TAs attend big interdepartmental orientation sessions. It is crucial for us to make contact with these new TAs and sign as many new members as possible, especially to keep our union strong post-Janus. To do that, we need YOU to volunteer! Volunteers help to inform and recruit newly-appointed TAs by handing out information booklets, discussing what the union is and how we keep trying to better grad employees’ working conditions, collecting signed cards and distributing T-shirts, etc.
Our goal is to get 600+ members at all the orientations and early GEO events. This is so we can start off the semester with at least 50% membership and build from there, also to maintain financial security to work on all our goals this year (Bargaining, RA/PGA Unionization, etc.). Orientation is the time we sign up the most members at once, so it is very important that we do our best!
If you have not volunteered before, don’t worry, there will be an Orientation Training on August 13th from 5:30 pm to 7 pm at the GEO Office (809 S. 5th Street). If you know of others that want to volunteer for orientation, please feel free to bring them to the training. If you or they can't make it, email us at geo@uigeo.org to set up a time for training that works for you! When you sign up to volunteer, please put your non-illinois email in parenthesis next to your name, so we can contact you about any logistics, or email us at geo@uigeo.org. See the Facebook event here for more information.
Big TA Orientation: This is scheduled for August 19 & 20. There are specific times that we need a lot of volunteers and those are noted on the sign up sheet. If you are signing up for set up, that means you will be at the GEO Office by 7:00 am. We need people with cars for set up and clean up so we can transport stuff to and from Foellinger. Please indicate if you are volunteering your car, for clean up or set up. Write car in parenthesis next to your name.
ISSS Orientation: At this orientation, we get a table at the ISSS (International Student and Scholar Services) Resource area. We have to be able to staff this for at least half of the time to get a table. This orientation will be at the Student and Dining Residential Programs (SDRP, 301 E Gregory Dr, Champaign, IL 61820). The first day, August 15th, is just for set up, so if you volunteer for that it means that you are transporting stuff to the SDRP and arranging our materials on the table they provide us. If you sign up for clean up, it means you will bring all the stuff back to the GEO Office on the last day of ISSS orientation, August 22nd. ISSS is expecting over 3,000 international students (grads and undergrads) at this orientation and the busiest days tend to be Friday, Sunday, and Monday, so keep that in mind as you sign up.
Department Orientations: Please volunteer to present at your department! These presentations can range from 5 minutes to an hour. It all depends on how much time we are allowed to talk. If you volunteer for these, it means you are responsible for coming to the office and picking up your cart of orientation materials and bringing the stuff back. If there will be food at the orientation you are presenting at, we will put your phone down so the delivery person can contact you.
If you have any questions please email us at geo@uigeo.org!
GEO at CU Days!
We are tabling at CU Days on Saturday, Aug 10, 11 am - 5 pm. CU days is a celebration of the Champaign-Urbana community. There will be tasty food, live entertainment, activities for kids, and more! This is a great opportunity for us to reach out to the community and make ourselves present outside of UIUC. As part of tabling, we will be donating school supplies to kids at the event. If you’d like to volunteer to table and hand out school supplies, please sign up here or email solcomm@uigeo.org. Even if you are not volunteering, stop by and check out the event!
RA/PGA Unionization Townhall Notes
The other week, we had a great discussion at a townhall with the public and fellow GEO members about RA/PGA Unionization. Notes taken of this discussion can be found here and the slides presented can be found here. If you're interested in working more with your fellow members on this or want to learn how else you can help improve your working conditions, please contact geo@uigeo.org!
Online Membership Cards!
We finally have online membership cards set up, supported by Adobe Sign! This takes care of some of the hassle of in-person signing and allows people to sign up on their own time if needed. However, we want to prioritize in-person signing whenever possible - it gives us a chance to have an organizing conversation where we can find out more about the new member and also maybe direct them to a committee or other type of involvement. In person organizing conversations are still the best way to build the union!
If you’d like to direct someone to the online form or are interested in checking it out yourself, head over to the join page on our website!
JOIN A GEO COMMITTEE!
We are a member-run union; we depend on the commitment of our members to stay as strong as possible. You can find details about what each committee does and how to contact them on our website. No special knowledge is required. You can also follow the calendar of events on our website for the date and time of upcoming meetings: http://uiucgeo.org/events/. Meetings are open to membership, and coming to a meeting does not commit you to joining a committee.
Upcoming meetings:
Constitutional Committee (cc@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Healthcare Working Group (health@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Stewards’ Council (sc@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Finance Committee (treasurer@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Solidarity Committee (solcomm@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Grievance Committee (grievance@uigeo.org) - Wednesday August 7, 5:15-6:15 pm
Communications Committee (commcomm@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Coordinating Committee (cc@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
RA/PGA Working Group (geo@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
CONNECT WITH GEO!
Have comments about the GMM? Other kinds of feedback for us? We want to hear it! Reply to this email or use our anonymous google form. You can also get in touch through our website and social media:
Website: www.uiucgeo.org
Twitter: @geo_uiuc
Facebook: @uigeo @geosolcomm
Instagram: @geo_uiuc
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org