General Membership Meeting and Welcome Back Party
First General Membership Meeting of the Semester!
[Image description: A flyer with a border of intersecting royal blue, yellow and light blue triangles. There is a black circle with the letters “GEO” in white at the top. A large, black all-capital title with yellow highlights announces “General Membership Meeting” Under that are two columns with bolded blue and black text. The left reads, “Thurs. September 1st 6-7:30pm In-Person, Channing Murray Foundation 1209 W Oregon St. Urbana 61801” The right column reads, “Wednesday, August 31st 12-1:30pm Virtual. Scan the QR code to register or go to https://tinyurl.com/2022AUGUSTGMM” There is a QR code to the right of the text. A light blue box at the bottom is filled with black text reading, “Topics: Intro to GEO, Officer Positions & Bargaining. Text underneath the box reads, “Questions? Email geo@uigeo.org]
Our first General Membership Meeting (GMM) of the semester is coming up! We’ll have two meeting options, one online and one in person. Both meetings will discuss the same content so feel free to attend whichever works best for you.
For new members, GMMs are our regular monthly meetings where we meet together with grad workers across departments to talk about ongoing union business. In this first GMM, we will give an introduction to the GEO, go over vacancies on the coordinating committee, and share an overview of the bargaining process.
The online GMM will be held on Wednesday, August 31 at 12pm on Google Meets. Register to receive the meeting link here: tinyurl.com/2022AugustGMM.
The in-person GMM will be held on Thursday, September 1 at 6pm at the Channing Murray Foundation (1209 W Oregon St Urbana). You don’t need to register ahead of time for the in-person meeting.
Welcome Back Party
[Image description: Flyer with a grey background titled “GEO Welcome Back Party!” There are pink and green fireworks and two full beer mugs toasting. The date is Friday, September 2nd 2022 at 8pm at the Independent Media Center (IMC) at 202 S Broadway Urbana. Text at the bottom reads “FREE BEER and FOOD after signing your GEO card! For info, email geo@uigeo.org.”]
We’re having a party! Come join us at the Independent Media Center in downtown Urbana (202 S Broadway Ave, Urbana, IL 61801) on Friday, September 2 from 8pm-12am. There will be free food and beer and excellent dance tunes (add your song requests here).
Accessibility: There are stairs to enter the IMC from the front, but there is an accessible entrance with a ramp as well. The bathroom is an all-gender, wheelchair accessible single stall. Masks will be encouraged while not eating or drinking but not required. Please consider testing before the party. You can pick up a free rapid test on campus.
Entrance policy: This party is exclusively for GEO members, and if you are not one yet, you can sign a card at the party. You will be checked in for your membership at the door. The only exception to this is if you would like to bring a plus-one who is not eligible for GEO membership (e.g., a non-graduate student).
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. Meetings are open to membership, and coming to a meeting does not commit you to joining a committee.
Upcoming schedules:
RA/PGA Working Group (Contact Bram at bram.osterhout@gmail.com) - Email for information about schedule.
Bargaining Team (Contact Chelsea & Sam at officer1@uigeo.org) - Work session on Monday, September 5, 2-6pm. Next regular meeting is Monday, September 12, 11am-1pm. Regular fall meetings will be every Monday from 11am-1pm. Online and in the GEO office.
Grievance Committee (Contact Dante at grievance@uigeo.org) - Tuesday, September 6, 4:00pm-5:00pm. Meets every other Tuesday from 4-5
Stewards’ Council (Contact Grace at sc@uigeo.org) - Currently scheduling fall meetings, contact email to get involved.
Communications Committee (Contact Megan and Savannah at commcomm@uigeo.org) - Monday, September 5, 4-5pm. Meets online every other Monday from 4-5pm. Google Meets link: https://meet.google.com/vej-hmah-tks
Disability Caucus (Contact Grace at GEOdisabilityUIUC@gmail.com) - Monday, August 29, 12:00pm-1:00pm. Meets online via Google Meets on Mondays from 12-1. Email for more information.
Solidarity Committee (Contact solcomm@uigeo.org) - Contact email to get involved.
People First Cancel Debt Committee (Contact Karla at cc@uigeo.org) - Contact email to get involved.
Work Action Group (WAG) (Contact Karla at cc@uigeo.org) - Contact email to get involved.
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org