Editor’s Note: This is a public Student Union document which has been reproduced to increase the document’s accessibility for the student body and to ensure the availability of a public record in service of the Danforth Dispatch’s goal of facilitating improvements to the community.
Resolution Advocating To Index Student Worker Compensation To Tuition
Introduced by Chair of Academic Affairs David Mathisson and Cosponsoring Senators Jojo Spio, Ethan Glazer, Hussein Amuri, Saketh Bhupathiraju, and Pat Wang
WHEREAS, without the consultation of a single student, parent, or other community member who must suffer the consequences of this decision, the University administration has unilaterally made the decision to increase tuition by 2.9% despite the continuance of the global pandemic, and
WHEREAS, as part of a highly problematic national trend, tuition at WashU has doubled since 2004, an increase so astronomical it has required increases at a rate of up to 4.3 times the rate of inflation, and
WHEREAS, while tuition is being increased, student worker compensation will not receive a commensurate increase, forcing students who must work to cover essential costs to put in more hours, while administrators fail to meaningfully address the financial challenges students face when they raise tuition, and
WHEREAS, while tuition increases are harmful under any circumstances, during a global pandemic, when hard-working students and families are suffering much more, the decision to raise tuition is even more concerning, and
WHEREAS, this new increase, driven not by unexpected costs or substantial new investments in faculty, facilities, or student opportunities, appears to be primarily motivated by a concerning national trend of increasing administrator pay with no demonstrable benefits to student outcomes, and
WHEREAS, the decision to increase tuition was disseminated in an impersonal manner which failed to acknowledge the harm that decision would cause to hard-working students and families, and
WHEREAS, the manner in which the decision to increase tuition was communicated failed to convincingly explain a compelling financial need which would justify a tuition increase of 2.9%, and
WHEREAS, one of the wealthiest institutions in the world, which recently was covered by Forbes and Bloomberg for the press release it issued about its 65% endowment gain, which brought our already massive endowment to a total of $15.3 BILLION, fundamentally lacks any credibility to reasonably justify the decision to raise tuition, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the WashU administration should index all student worker compensation to tuition, and further be it
RESOLVED, that Executive Vice President, the Vice President of Engagement, and the Speaker of the Senate must collaborate with the administration to annually host the Tuition Forum as it was held prior to the pandemic, and further be it
RESOLVED, that the Tuition Forum should transparently and effectively present financial information to the community which explains the financial needs justifying each tuition increase and how tuition increases are being spent beyond the coverage of inflationary costs, and further be it
RESOLVED, that Executive Vice President, the Vice President of Engagement, and the Speaker of the Senate must collaborate with the administration to provide the information in the Tuition Forum on an annually updated website or other permanently viewable format easily accessible by all Washington University students.