“My grief lies all within” — PhD students, depression & attrition

PhD education and mental health: A follow-up

Note: UTMAGS is in the process of scheduling a safeTALK workshop through the UTM Health and Counselling Centre. We are interested in what time works for everyone. To let us know, either leave a comment here or on our Facebook page, or email us at utmags@utoronto.ca. Thanks! 

safeTALK: Suicide Alertness for Everyone

safeTALK is a 4-hour training that prepares participants to identify people with thoughts of suicide and to connect them with suicide first aid resources in our community.  safeTALK is available to anyone at UTM.

Most people with thoughts of suicide invite help to stay safe.  safeTALK-trained alert helpers know how to use these opportunities to support that desire for safety.  Through examples, discussion and practice, you will learn practical steps to help activate a suicide alert that connects people having thoughts of suicide with more specialized intervention care. All participants will receive a safeTALK certification upon completion.

For more information about safeTALK please visit www.livingworks.net

CUPE3902 Response to PDAD&C memo of Feb 1st, 2012

University of Toronto Faculty Association Letter to Provost Misak

Discuss:

A Progressive and Fair Offer to A Highly Valued Group of Employees and Students

Hello everyone,

This is a brief but very important message from CUPE 3902 and UTMAGS:

1) At tonight’s General Meeting the CUPE 3902 membership voted yes to go on strike starting February 24th if the university does not come back to union with a better collective agreement.

2) CUPE 3902 will be holding a meeting at UTM this Thursday, February 2nd from 12-1pm in IB 245. We hope that all UTM TA’s attend if possible. Please RSVP to utmags@utoronto.ca so we can have an accurate count for lunch.

Below is a message from CUPE 3902 concerning the meeting. Thanks, and we hope that you can all make it to the meeting Thursday.

Dear UTM TAs and educational workers,

As you are no doubt aware, CUPE3902, your union representing educational workers at UTM, UTSC and St. George, and the university administration have been bargaining over a new collective agreement.  Several weeks ago, the university administration filed for conciliation with the Provincial Government.  With this stage of the bargaining process complete, a lock out or strike situation, though still not imminent, is increasingly likely.

This Thursday, February 2, 12-1pm, there will be a Strike/Bargaining Info Session for members based at UTM campus in IB 245 (Instructional Centre, by UTM Shuttle drop off).  All members are encouraged to attend.  Lunch and refreshments will be provided.  Please RSVP with any dietary restrictions.

At the Info Session, your UTM steward, UTM Strike Coordinator and a member of the bargaining team will be available to discuss questions related to:

-what are the sticking points in negotiations?

-what are the merits of the university’s offer (if there is one to present to the membership)?

-what will a strike look like at UTM?

-will a strike affect my ability to complete my research?

-what counts as strike breaking?

-what can I do to help (and receive strike pay)?

-what is the history of strikes at U of T?

I hope to see all of you there, and I look forward to meeting you.  If you cannot make the meeting, feel free to email me any questions/concerns you have and I will try to get the answers for you at the meeting.

Best,

Troy Lundblad

UTM Steward, CUPE3902

GRADUATE STUDENTS Networking Night
In collaboration with the Office of the Vice Dean, Graduate and UTMAGS

Wednesday, January 18

6 pm – 8 pm
Faculty Club, Davis 3140
Register & learn more @ http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/careers/pop_ups_1201/nn_grad.html

Wondering what career paths you can take with your graduate degree? Not sure how to apply your graduate-level skills in the workplace? Questions on making the transition into industry with educational background?

Attend this event to network with leading industry professionals with a diverse range of graduate degrees. Learn about their experience, develop a network of contacts, and gain valuable insight from professionals.

Featuring Professionals from:

·         GlaxoSmithKline

·         MaRS Innovation

·         Sanofi Pasteur

·         Technical Standards & Safety Authority

·         Hoffmann-La Roche Limited

·         Lunanos

·         Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board

A big ‘Thanks!’ to everyone who voted in the CUPE 3092 Strike Vote last/this week! Over 1,600 TA’s voted, with 91% voting Yes!

Stay tuned for more information as negotations with the university continue.

Cheers!

As you probably have heard, CUPE 3092 Unit 1 (the union representing all University of Toronto TAs) will be holding a strike vote next week.

We, the officers of UTMAGS, would like every UTM graduate student to go to the polls next week and vote YES.

Why?

By voting YES on a strike provision, we are actually **less likely to go on strike**. A strong YES vote shows the university that we are serious about the negotiation issues, and that if they do not start cooperating we will go on strike. Often (12/15 times in the history of the union) the university cooperates and we **do not** go on strike.

If negations continue to break down, then we will go on strike. Due to the structure of the bargaining process, and if we were to strike it would not occur until *next semester*.

 The Issues

We know that you’ve all received lots of material from CUPE lately about the negotiations concerning our Collective Agreement (aka. our contract). Here’s a condensed version of some of the big issues:

1) The university wants to eliminate all graduate student guaranteed funding packages. If you are in a funded cohort (research stream), then bye bye funding.

2) The university has eliminated the Doctoral Completion Grant. This was money distributed to 5th and 6th year PhD students on the verge of completing their degrees. If you take more than 4/5 years to complete your degree, then you are completely out of luck and have to pay tuition out of pocket. The union wants to reinstate this fund, in the form of a 50% tuition waiver for 5/6th year PhD students. 

3) The university wants to decrease fellowship money, and increase the number of TA hours we have to work to complete our funding packages. This means we will have to work more than 140 hours, but still receive the same amount of funding in the end.

4) The union wants to cap tutorial size at 50 students. Sick of how giant tutorials are decreasing the quality of education? We are too.

Vote

Polling stations will be set up in the Meeting Place, from 12:00-2:00 pm from November 23rd-29th.

To vote all you need to do is show up (CUPE has a digital list of all TA’s, so no member card is necessary).

 Questions?

There will be a general CUPE meeting on Tuesday, November 22nd from 5:00-8:00 pm in the Hart House Debates Room. If you have any other questions, feel free to email the union at bargaining@listserv.cupe3902.org, or us at utmags@utoronto.ca.

Cheers, and vote YES!