A campus of The California State University

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Office of the Academic Senate   •   One Washington Square   •   San Jose, California 95192-0024   •   408-924-2440   •   Fax: 408-924-2451

 

                                                                        F01-3

At its meeting of December 10, 2001, the Academic Senate passed the following Policy

Recommendation presented by Miriam Donoho for the Curriculum and Research Committee.

 

POLICY RECOMMENDATION

TEACHING ASSOCIATE FEE WAIVERS

 

Whereas:       teaching associates make valuable contributions to the mission of San Jose State University, and

 

Whereas:       the recruitment and retention of the highest quality graduate students, which would strengthen graduate and research programs at SJSU, is assisted by the availability of adequately compensated Teaching Associate positions, and

 

Whereas:       limited use of Teaching Associates can enhance the educational experience of our students by providing enthusiastic and academically strong role models from more diverse backgrounds than provided by the faculty, and

 

Whereas:       teaching is an important educational experience for our best graduate students, one that helps them prepare for future teaching responsibilities that academic careers would include, and

 

Whereas:       graduate students who serve as Teaching Associates during their years on campus have a closer connection to the university, both during their tenure here and as alumni, and

 

Whereas:       graduate students have few other means of obtaining adequate financial assistance on campus, often needing to work off-campus to be able to afford their state university and campus fees, and

 

Whereas:       the high cost of living in the Bay Area makes being a graduate student at this campus more expensive than at others, and

 

Whereas:       Teaching Associates at other CSU campuses[1] receive state university fee waivers in recognition of their important contribution, and

 

Whereas:       some student athletes and international students[2] are already receiving SJSU fee waivers, partly in recognition of their service to the university, therefore be it

 

Resolved:      that the attached be approved as University policy on Waivers of State University and Campus Fees for Teaching Associates, effective Fall semester 2002.

 

ACTION BY THE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT:

 

Waivers of State University and Campus Fees for Teaching Associates

 

1. Matriculated graduate students who are appointed and paid as Teaching Associates at SJSU shall be granted waivers, during the semester they teach, of mandatory campus miscellaneous fees and the mandatory state university fees (at the CA-resident tuition level) equal to the “graduate 1.0 to 6.0 units” rate, if they have a fractional hiring time of 0.1 to 0.2.

 

2. Matriculated graduate students who are appointed and paid as Teaching Associates at SJSU shall be granted waivers, during the semester they teach, of mandatory campus miscellaneous fees and the mandatory state university fees (at the CA-resident tuition level) equal to the “graduate 6.1 or more units” rate, if they have a fractional hiring time greater than 0.2.

 

3.  The Academic Senate will review the impact of the Teaching Associate Fee Waiver Program every two years from the date of implementation.  If the Teaching Associate FTEF exceeds 3% of the total FTEF of the University in any semester, the waiver program shall be reevaluated[3].

 

Financial Impact:            At current TA usage levels, about $54,000 per semester[4].

 

Significant, perhaps complete, counterbalancing revenue and savings to campus to the extent that either of the following are realized:

 

a) availability of fee waivers for graduate students serving as Teaching Associates increases graduate student recruiting success and enrollment (and FTES-based allocations).

 

b) reduced section cancellations and/or increased section offerings due to greater availability of exceptional Teaching Associates increases undergraduate enrollment (and FTES-based allocations).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes


[1] CSU Humboldt, Pomona, San Diego, Sonoma, Fullerton and Northridge currently have tuition fee waivers for Teaching Associates.  Over half are University-funded.  The others are externally funded.

[2] Currently at SJSU 4-6 international students per college per year are granted waivers of their state university fees, generally in exchange for performing some service to the university, though sometimes on the basis of academic achievement and financial need.  In total, waivers of 300 non-resident fee units ($73,800) are awarded each year. These are described in Chancellor’s Office Executive Order 712.

[3] Teaching Associate FTEF was 20.157 for Fall 2000 while total FTEF for the university was 1110.227 for the same period.  Thus during a typical semester, Teaching Associate FTEF is 1.82% of the total FTEF.

[4] See Appendix A for Financial Impact Analysis.  Appendices B and C provide an analysis of the number of Teaching Associates used in recent semesters by each department at SJSU, the total fractional appointments that Teaching Associates were assigned, and the total cost to the University that the fee waiver program as described here would have incurred had it been in place during AY ‘00-‘01.