GEO Website Launch
Check out our newly redesigned GEO website! We hope this revamp will help you easily access the many resources that GEO offers. If you have suggestions or encounter problems, email commchair@geo3550.org.
You’re Part of a Movement!
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of union members in Michigan increased from 606,000 in 2016 to 658,000 last year, or from 14.4 to 15.6 percent of the workforce.
North Campus Coffee and Donuts
Wednesday, January 31st from 10:00AM to noon, GEO is providing free coffee and donuts in the Duderstadt Connector for folks interested in talking with us. Come say hi and grab some free food between classes, and stay tuned for more events like this throughout the semester! If you’d like to get involved with GEO’s North Campus Task Force, email northcampuschair@geo3550.org.
The February General Membership Meeting will lay the groundwork to begin preparations for next year’s platform development process, discuss leadership transitions and elections, provide a dues and membership update, and give space for members to raise and consider issues of their own.
Trans Health Caucus
We had our first special conference in December. There will be a community meeting at the GEO office on February 12 from 6-8:30. Please attend if you are impacted by trans healthcare accessibility, and pass this on to your friends who might be! We will give updates about our current status and gather feedback to help us move forward. There will be food provided, starting at 6. If you can’t make the whole time, don’t worry; you’re free to drop in or leave at any time.
Childcare Subsidy Update
GEO held a Special Conference with HR on Monday Jan 8 per the GEO / UM agreement, to problem-solve around the long-standing issue of retroactive reductions made to the childcare subsidy. GEO is happy to report that HR showed up to this meeting having done its homework and offered a fairly adequate solution to this issue. Retroactive reductions to the subsidy were being triggered in many cases by the disbursement of other awards, such as the Rackham travel grant. Administrators from the Office of Financial Aid, also in attendance, informed us that grants like these lower students’ budgeted “cost of attendance,” which determines how much need-based aid (like the subsidy) they’re eligible for.
In order to avoid triggering a reduction in need, therefore a reduction in aid, we were informed that students should make sure to fill out this form and submit it to the Office of Financial Aid, if at all possible, no less than five days prior to accepting any additional grants. This form increases the student’s budgeted cost of attendance by the award amount, causing any prior subsidy amounts to remain the same. (The Budget Re-Evaluation form can be found at the Office of Financial Aid forms website.) Rackham also added language to all of their grant information web pages alerting potential recipients of this reduction issue and how to mitigate it.
If you are a parent or prospective parent and would like more information about the Childcare Subsidy, or it you’d like to join the GEO Parents’ Caucus, please email denise@geo3550.org.
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