Letter from the GSRA Steering Committee: International GSRA experiences

This week, we focus on the experiences of international GSRAs–as reported both in one-on-one conversations and in the recent GEO bargaining survey of GSRAs.

First, some background: according to the University, 34% of UM graduate students hail from outside the United States.  These GSRAs come from all over the world; the countries of origin of the largest numbers of international graduate student research assistants are China, South Korea, and India.

While many of the experiences and needs of international graduate students are the same as those of domestic graduate students, the unique circumstances of international GSRAs mean that some elements of their experience do differ.

Generally, international graduate students cannot work for US employers other than UM, and cannot hold appointment fractions over 0.5, which limits their earning capacity.

IGSRAs’ non-citizen family members who accompany them to the US may not be permitted to work, which makes both the supplement of an individual GSRA’s income and the securing of child care subsidies through UM’s programs very difficult.

International graduate student research assistants are currently denied some of the benefits of the GEO contract for GSIs and GSSAs—most notably, the reimbursement of the federally-mandated SEVIS fee (which costs $180-$200, depending on the type of visa).

In GEO’s recent bargaining survey for GSRAs, international IGSRAs pointed to the factors above, as well as to other ways in which their experience at UM differs from domestic graduate students’ and could be improved.

International GSRAs were 50% more likely than domestic GSRAs to answer that they had experienced or knew of examples of international GSRAs being treated differently from their domestic colleagues.

One international GSRA respondent said: “[I]nternational students are expected to work day and night [to an even greater degree than domestic students are]…also, some advisors easily vent on international students.”

Another has written: “I saw students afraid of asking for vacation time to go back home even though they need to attend weddings or funerals….[One student’s] back was injured last Christmas and he couldn’t stand for long time to conduct experiments. He asked to go back home earlier. But his adviser simply replied: ‘Forget your pain. Work day and night.’”

International GSRAs, in our survey, were also twice as likely as domestic graduate students to report difficulty securing vacation time to go home for family events or bereavement—or even to perform the formalities associated with renewing their visas.

One respondent to the recent GEO survey said: “I want to go back home this winter for 3 weeks including the winter break, because the renewal of my F-1 visa requires 10-15 working days. But my advisor only wants to give me a 2-week vacation, which is not enough to renew my visa.”

The threat of a change in visa status is a serious concern for international GSRAs—one that even some domestic survey respondents saw used against IGSRAs in their employment. One reported: “I have seen that international GSRAs are sometimes expected to work harder [than domestic GSRAs] and have the threat of being sent back home over their heads.

Every graduate student, regardless of national origin, citizenship, or type of visa, has the Constitutional right to join a union. Neither an employer nor a union may act or threaten to act against someone’s employment or visa status on the basis of his or her choice about whether to join a union.

GEO and the GSRA steering committee are dedicated to improving the work experiences of domestic and international graduate student research assistants alike  We encourage everyone to get involved! Please consider joining our International GSRA caucus or the growing Chinese GSRA caucus. For more information on these caucuses or the campaign, go to www.umgeo.org or write to us atgsracampaign@geo3550.org.

Best regards,

Andrea Jokisaari

Chair, GEO GSRA Steering Committee

Materials Science and Engineering

Samantha Montgomery

President, GEO

Psychology and Women’s Studies