A sign held at a sit-in at Kaneff Tower underlines the importance of labour rights.

We have been impatiently waiting for York to reveal its new funding model, which it first described to the union and other interested groups in January 2016. Forty-one days after the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) told the York University Graduate Student Association (YUGSA) that they would provide this information, an email from FGS has been sent to what appears to be all current (up to year 5 of the PhD) and incoming students.

CUPE 3903 has been very clear in its opposition to this new funding model, which will cut at least 670 unionized jobs, robbing the people who would usually have held these positions of our exceptional health care, protections from discrimination and harassment, extensions for people with disabilities, and access to important funds, including childcare and extended health benefits.

In addition to this blatant union-busting, now that we have seen the details of the new funding model, there can be no doubt that it is the very opposite of “encouraging academic excellence, supporting student success, and improving transparency and clarity in graduate funding”, to quote the email from FGS. There are four different basic scenarios (Masters international, Masters domestic, PhD international, PhD domestic), as well as multiple scenarios within each one.

International Masters Students

International Masters students are guaranteed $19,256 a year. To this amount is added $600 for UHIP, and $1000 as a Health Care Graduate Bursary. This leaves the student with $1,600 after tuition. In most cases, the $19,256 will consist of a fellowship, which is paid out three times a year in the Fall, Winter, and Summer. If a student gets an external scholarship, it will count towards the fellowship amount. Any smaller scholarships or bursaries, including the York Graduate Scholarship, will be in addition to the fellowship.

If you are able to secure work as a Graduate Assistant (GA), the $7,534 offset will be counted towards the fellowship, but the salary from the GA (including Grant-in-Aid ,vacation pay, and Graduate Financial Assistance (GFA)) will be in addition to the fellowship.

If you are able to secure work as a Teaching Assistant (TA), the $7,534 offset and GFA will be counted towards the fellowship, but the salary (including Grant-in-Aid and vacation pay) from the TA will be in addition to the fellowship.

If you are able to secure funding in the form of a research assistantship (RA), it “may be in addition” to the fellowship.

Domestic Masters Students   

Domestic Masters students are guaranteed $10,000 a year. To this amount is added $1000 as a Health Care Graduate Bursary. This leaves the student with $5,784 after tuition. In most cases, the $10,000 will consist of a fellowship, which is paid out three times a year in the Fall, Winter, and Summer. If a student gets an external scholarship, it will count towards the fellowship amount. Any smaller scholarships or bursaries, including the York Graduate Scholarship, will be in addition to the fellowship.

If you are able to secure work as a Graduate Assistant (GA), the salary from the GA (including Grant-in-Aid and vacation pay) will be in addition to the fellowship. The email does not specify what happens to the GFA in this case.

If you are able to secure work as a Teaching Assistant (TA), the fellowship will be reduced to $5,403, and the salary (including Grant-in-Aid, vacation pay, and GFA) from the TA will be in addition to this fellowship amount.

If you are able to secure funding in the form of a research assistantship (RA), it “may be in addition” to the fellowship.

International Doctoral Students

International Doctoral students are guaranteed $34,403 a year. To this amount is added $600 to cover UHIP. This leaves the student with $15,972 after tuition. In most cases, the $34,403 will consist of a fellowship, which is paid out three times a year in the Fall, Winter, and Summer, salary from a TA or GA, the GFA, and the amount of tuition offset owed, depending on whether or not the student pays higher tuition fees. The amount of the fellowship is calculated by subtracting salary, GFA, and offset amounts from $34,403. If a student gets an external scholarship, it will count towards the fellowship amount. Any smaller scholarships or bursaries, including the York Graduate Scholarship, will be in addition to the fellowship.

If you are able to secure funding in the form of a research assistantship (RA), it will be counted towards the fellowship.

The $1000 Health Care Graduate Bursary will be added for those who do not have a TA or GA contract.

Domestic Doctoral Students

Domestic Doctoral students are guaranteed $22,722 a year. This leaves the student with $17,506 after tuition. In most cases, the $22,722 will consist of a fellowship, which is paid out three times a year in the Fall, Winter, and Summer, salary from a TA or GA, and the GFA. The amount of the fellowship is calculated by subtracting salary and GFA from $22,722. If a student gets an external scholarship, it will count towards the fellowship amount. Any smaller scholarships or bursaries, including the York Graduate Scholarship, will be in addition to the fellowship.

If you are able to secure funding in the form of a research assistantship (RA), it will be counted towards the fellowship.

The $1000 Health Care Graduate Bursary will be added for those who do not have a TA or GA contract.

The table below attempts to summarize this complicated model as clearly as possible.

York has repeatedly assured us that this new funding model is meant to increase transparency and accountability, as well as support students towards better completion times. Leaving aside that cutting benefits and funds can only be detrimental to student success, FGS is about to face an influx of confused students trying to figure out why their fellowship was arbitrarily slashed when they secured a TA, or whether their GFA is in addition to their fellowship. The arbitrariness of this model is shamelessly built into the stipulation that RAs for Masters students “may be” counted towards the fellowship. This seems like a way from the university to funnel better funding packages into departments that better fit its business model, whereas students in other departments continue to experience what we’ve known all along — when York offers you a minimum guarantee, they are really telling you the very maximum they are willing to pay.

Moreover, none of these funding emails mention the fact that summer funding is built into our collective agreements (CAs), in recognition of the fact that our members still need to pay their bills and feed their families during the relatively dry summer months. York’s claim during a YUGSA event that that this “funding model is done with respect and care and adherence to the CA” of CUPE 3903 is woefully inaccurate. While fellowships will be paid out in three equal installments, including in the summer, for those whose funding will mostly rely on a TA or GA salary, this system not only contravenes the CAs, but also impoverishes members for four months every year.

Finally, the emails sent to PhD students stated that the fellowship will only be valid for five years. It is unclear what will happen to the extensions guaranteed in our CA, including the sixth year of priority pool status for PhDs holding a TA.

York may respond that it still needs to fine-tune a few things and this system will be fully functional, but we know better. Students are being asked to swallow a funding model that is needlessly complicated and arbitrary so that York can bust our union and pad its pockets off our backs.