AAUP-AFT Collective Negotiations Agreement — July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2026

Article 12 – TAs/GAs Teaching Assistant Appointments for FT PhD Students

1. Full-time PhD students who are paid a salary by Rutgers University to teach courses in a Rutgers University academic program during an academic year and prior to the completion of the fifth year of the doctoral program shall be appointed only as TAs for such assignments.
2. Admission to candidacy status is no longer a consideration in appointing a TA.
3. Implementation: Schools, units and departments may share this information with their GPDs, chairs, associate deans, administrators and others involved in the TA and GA appointment process.

Graduate Fellows

1. Graduate students, including those funded through fellowships, who are performing the duties of a TA or GA shall be classified as a TA or GA through the academic appointment process.
2. If there is a dispute as to whether a fellow is performing the duties of a TA or a GA, the graduate student or the AAUP-AFT may request a review by the Provost’s Office, as to whether the graduate student should be reclassified as a TA or GA.

TA/GA Workload

In reviewing the claim of a TA or GA who reasonably believes that their specifically assigned duties routinely require hours that will cumulatively exceed the hours of effort required by the appointment percentage over its full term, the department chair, unit head or graduate director may:

reject the claim, or

direct either (1) an adjustment in specifically assigned duties or, (2) pending availability and approval of funding, an adjustment in the appointment, which may include an adjustment in compensation based on the annual salary of the TA or GA.

University Closures

TAs and GAs should not be required to perform work during the University’s closures, including, between Christmas Day/Christmas Day observed and New Year’s Day/New Year’s Day, and Thanksgiving Day and the day after, unless emergent circumstances require the assignment of work during those periods.

Fall 2024 PhD Students (Separate MOA with the AAUP-AFT, Not Part of the New Contract)

1. Beginning with Fall 2024 students entering their PhD graduate program that semester, at the conclusion of a full-time PhD student’s one-year term of appointment as a TA or a GA, or following the conclusion of such student’s one-year fellowship, the University shall offer the full-time PhD student support through the completion of the fifth year of the student’s doctoral program provided the student is making adequate academic progress in their program through TAships, GAships or University-sponsored fellowships.
2. Implementation: Additional information on implementation is forthcoming.

Teaching Assistant (“TA”)/Graduate Assistant (“GA”) Salaries