Click here for a PDF of the Bargaining Bulletin
In a move that is unprecedented in the history of academic labor disputes, the U-M Administration has pressured department chairs and non-instructional staff into submitting falsified grades for the students of striking GSIs. In some cases, this means that students are getting As across the board. In other cases, students are getting lower grades than they deserve – with at least one reportedly getting a failing grade when otherwise they’d have passed. Several department chairs report being coerced into submitting falsified grades, with one writing that “none of us are doing this willingly.” The complete scope of the academic fraud is not yet clear, but it is likely one of the largest cases of mass academic misconduct in recent memory. According to GEO president Jared Eno, “the biggest threat to academic integrity on this campus is not ChatGPT, it is President Ono and Provost McCauley.”
Grad workers held a press conference outside the University Regents’ meeting in order to draw attention to the scandal of falsified grades. Luiza, a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature, stated that “U-M’s effort to guarantee grades at all costs is not heroic, it’s shameful… It insults students by showing that grades are only supposed to reflect their work when that’s convenient for the institution.” Paul Brown, chair of the Regents, said that there would be a “full investigation” into this systematic academic fraud.
Grads Speak Truth to Power at Regents Meeting
After the press conference, grads and allies gave public comment during a rowdy meeting of U-M Regents. Provost McCauley denied pressuring chairs to submit falsified grades, despite numerous chairs stating otherwise (see for yourself at ), leading astonished audience members to shout “lies!” and “shame!” Here’s what some grads had to say to the Regents:
Rebecca, Architecture
“We know from our FOIAs that the university was preparing for an injunction back in 2022. The administration never had any intention of averting a strike. You are choosing to support a profoundly anti-labor stance, this impacts not just us, the striking workers of this university, but hurts everyone that this university is intended to serve.”
Irene, Anthropology
“On an annual stipend of 24K, it is impossible for me to make ends meet here, let alone support my family back home & tend to the costs that come with my disability. How much clearer can we make this to you? … A living wage is the bare minimum we can ask for: and it is what we won’t stop demanding, simply because we cannot afford to.”
General Membership Meeting This Thursday
The move to fabricate grades en masse instead of offer us a fair contract is a risky gambit by the Administration. We’ll have a mass meeting this Thursday at 5:00pm to talk about what comes next for the campaign. We will also be holding elections for GEO officer positions. RSVP at
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