Graduate student organizers in the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare\u00a0began a tuition strike Jan. 19 in response to \u201cgrave concerns\u201d about recent layoffs of two union-protected lecturers in the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The lecturers, Patti Park and Eveline Chang, were named in a letter that students sent to leadership at Berkeley Social Welfare.<\/p>\n
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Campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore said campus could not comment on confidential personnel matters.<\/p>\n
In the letter, students said their tuition strike is also in protest of further grievances regarding department budget cuts and tuition increases. Students expressed that they felt there were \u201ctroubling patterns that have severely degraded the quality and integrity of our program\u201dand announced that a collective tuition strike would \u201cbegin immediately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The letter also details a list of demands, including the reversal of Chang and Park\u2019s layoffs, restoration of practicum support, financial transparency and tuition freezes, reduction of required practicum hours and student representation in administrative decision-making.<\/p>\n
Along with the dismissal of Park and Chang, the letter cites the \u201csystematic dismantling\u201d of student support systems, \u201cexperimental\u201d curriculum implementation lacking adequate support and \u201cfinancial exploitation.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The letter also said students have been in dialogue with leaders in the department for several months \u2014 including writing open letters, meeting with Berkeley Social Welfare Dean Susan Stone, writing articles and engaging in peaceful demonstrations. According to the letter, the tuition strike is a \u201clast resort.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilmore said campus would not speculate about the impacts of a tuition strike, but that campus policies around nonpayment would apply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the campus Student Billing website, if a student has unpaid fees of $100 or more over 60 days past due, Billing and Payment Services is authorized \u201cto place a hold on a student\u2019s registration and diploma until the financial obligation is satisfied.\u201d<\/p>\n