GOLD-UE Ratification Vote

Dear Dartmouth community,

I am pleased to announce that the membership of our graduate student union, GOLD-UE, has ratified the three-year contract agreement we reached on June 24. This significant milestone reflects our dedication to supporting our graduate students while upholding Dartmouth's core values and operational needs.

We successfully aligned our contract with those of other graduate programs at peer institutions, ensuring consistency and fairness while preserving Dartmouth's unique strengths and commitments.

Throughout the negotiations, we held firm on our key goals: protecting academic freedom, safeguarding the decision-making authority of our faculty and institution, ensuring there will be no work stoppages or lockouts, and maintaining our financial stability.

Key aspects of the agreement include:

• Management Rights and No Strike/No Lockout: We protected the academic freedom, discretion, judgment, and decision-making authority of our faculty and institution, ensuring there will be no work stoppages or lockouts during the contract period.
• Medical Leave and Benefits: We codified existing benefits like the Time Away for Medical Reasons (TAMR) policy, which provides up to four terms of health coverage at no cost. Additionally, we introduced a new grant covering 60% of the then-current stipend for TAMR for up to two months, further ensuring that students on medical leave can focus on their health and wellness.
• Financial Support and Compensation: The agreement includes a $47,000 stipend with annual increases tied to the CPI-W 12-month percentage change, or 3%, whichever is greater. This aligns our compensation package with those offered by peer institutions, ensuring our graduate students receive competitive financial support and helping us attract the strongest applicants. We also reaffirmed our childcare support by increasing the Guarini childcare stipend and establishing a $200,000 childcare fund to help students cover some of the extra expenses that come with children.

This agreement is a model of constructive engagement with unions, demonstrating our ability to negotiate and reach consensus without compromising on essential principles. We are proud to officially incorporate many existing benefits into the contract, including intellectual property rights, tuition remission for eligible students, five years of guaranteed funding for full-time PhD students making satisfactory academic progress, and non-discrimination policies, ensuring that we continue to foster an inclusive and supportive environment for all.

We extend our thanks to the entire Guarini community for their patience and understanding throughout the negotiation period. We are especially grateful to everyone who worked diligently to minimize disruptions for our undergraduates, ensuring their needs were met and grades were submitted on time.

We look forward to the continued success and contributions of our graduate students under this new agreement as we reaffirm our commitment to excellence in graduate education and research.

Sincerely, 

David Kotz
Provost