Union Requests Meeting With Dean Wilcox

The Graduate Student and Teaching Fellow Union has requested the acting dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to schedule and appear at a public meeting to discuss the financial aid policies of the GSAS.

In a letter dated October 10, the Union's Steering Committee asked Edward T. Wilcox, acting dean of the GSAS, to "call, and duly publicize, a meeting between yourself and all the students of the GSAS."

Wilcox last night acknowledged he had received the letter but said he would not yet comment on the Union's request.

The letter said the Union has "reason to believe that tuition support in the Graduate School has been sharply reduced from last year's level."

"We have heard statements that this is not so; but we have consistently been unable to get any information as to the actual amount or distribution of financial support," the letter continued.

It said the financial state of graduate students "is becoming increasingly perilous," adding that it is "imperative" that information on financial aid be made available to the community.

The letter concluded by asking Wilcox to respond within one week after he received the letter.

The financial status of teaching fellows is a point of contention between the Union and the GSAS Administration. The Union claims that a new tuition abatement program is providing teaching fellows with about $250,000 less aid that they received last year under the old Staff Tuition Scholarship (STS) program.