Faculty: Research Assistants FAQs

No, you may not legally ask them if they plan to strike. However, ahead of a strike (and as soon as possible), you can ask RAs to prepare a detailed report on the status of their research and confirm they are caught up with their assigned tasks. You may not ask graduate students to work over their allotted time, but you can ask them to ensure that essential tasks are current.

Faculty should make plans to ensure that critical research components, such as animals, plants, equipment, and other sensitive research assets, are maintained. In addition:

• Continue to follow all safety procedures.
• Postpone experiments if requirements for the minimum number of individuals cannot be met.
• Safeguard critical research assets.
• Ensure critical data assets are backed up and accessible.
• Consider preserving critical cell lines and other assets.
• Deliveries of research supplies and materials may be delayed. Order ahead, delay deliveries, or plan alternatives in case of delays.
• Expect that some campus user facilities may be short-staffed during a strike.

You may not assign additional work to non-striking RAs.

Unfortunately, there is no straightforward way to account for this, but if a striking student wants to continue to do academic research while on strike, they may; however, they will not be paid.