AGWA-UAW Contract Negotiations Highlight UAF’s Difficulties With Recruitment and Retention

By Mike Degen

Over the last several months, we’ve covered the university’s bargaining with graduate students. Recall that bargaining is under a time crunch. There is a deadline for all contracts to be submitted to the state legislature by April 25th to be approved for the fall of 2024. For contracts to be submitted, both the student union and university must agree on new contracts.

 In late February, the university walked away from the table and canceled several days of bargaining after UAF students went to Juneau to gain funding for the university’s pursuit of R1 status. Achieving R1 status benefits the university because it attracts more funding. To achieve R1 status, the university must graduate a certain number of PhD students each year. The university is not meeting that number because it struggles to recruit, retain, and support students. There are several reasons for this.

UAF faces an uphill battle recruiting students, especially from the lower forty-eight. Evidence for this includes a Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) report. The organization tracks participation in the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE). The program allows students from twenty Western states (including Alaska) to receive in-state tuition in other states. For example, if I am a resident of Alaska, I can receive in-state tuition in California. In the academic year of 2022-23, 430 students went to Alaska. At the same time, 1410 students left Alaska to go to other states.

This demonstrates that the University of Alaska is losing students, and to become an R1 institution, it needs to recruit and retain students.

At the same time, the university’s graduation rate is 32.3%, meaning only 1 out of 3 students graduate. This is roughly half the national average of 63%. Again, there are many reasons for this, and the university is in a unique situation compared to other universities in the US.

While some of these reasons are out of the university’s control, the university is not entirely devoid of blame. The university fails to attract out-of-state students because UAF refuses to pay its graduate students a livable wage.

As of this writing, the current minimum wage for one adult is $23.82. UAF has a minimum wage of $21 for graduate students. This does not consider graduate students who have children. A living wage is a sticking point for students negotiating new contracts. In a recent proposal, the university offered to raise the minimum to $21.53, still well below the amount needed to live in Fairbanks. I can’t help but wonder why the university doesn’t want to pay students a living wage. It appears odd that the university, which has a recognizable problem attracting and retaining students, refuses to pay students an amount they can live on. I also can’t help but think of the enormous salaries afforded to the university’s administration. Some make more monthly than graduate students do in a year.

As negotiations continue, the graduate students remain in solidarity. On March 29th, graduate students voted on whether or not to authorize a strike. Over 66% of the students voted, with 95% voting to authorize a strike. The message was clear to the administration.