Grievances

Summer Health Insurance

As a result of a grievance filed by TUGSA, TAs and RAs who taught summer classes for Temple over the past three summers (as of 2006) are entitled to a full or partial reimbursement of health insurance premium costs.

Workload

TUGSA regards workload as defined by number of hours worked, not by credit hours taught. In some departments, teaching two courses a semester may entail 20 hours of work, and for a student with an appointment requiring 20 hours of work, such a teaching load is appropriate. In other departments, however, teaching two courses a semester may entail more than 20 hours of work, and in that case the student has a legitimate complaint.

In the English department, for example, TAs were in the past often required to teach two sections of English 50, a basic writing course, in a semester. Teaching English 50 requires instructors to spend more time than usual in grading papers, and instructors are required to meet individually with every student at least three times per semester. For these reasons, in 2003, a number of graduate students in English filed a complaint, arguing that they were working more than 20 hours a week; TUGSA won the case.

If you believe that you are working hours in excess of those required by your appointment letter, contact TUGSA and begin keeping a log of the number of hours you are working.