GAU is always recruiting new leaders!
We are operated entirely by GAs, for GAs. Make a difference, grow your skillset, and join an incredible union community! There are a multitude of opportunities at varying levels of involvement to suit all talents and time restraints, including:
- Stewardship for your department
- Committee membership
- Executive leadership
- UFF Fellows program
- UFF Senators and FEA Delegates
Department Stewards
Becoming a GAU Steward!
Who is a steward?
A steward serves as point person for our union in their respective department. A steward for GAU would:
Why are stewards important?
UF is a highly decentralized institution, and it is not possible for GAU leadership alone to be present in every department. We need representation in every department to more meaningfully connect with graduate assistants and stay aware of potential contract violations. You are the experts in your own department, and we need that expertise to effectively recruit new members, combat unfair treatment, and strengthen our union.
Want to know the steward in your department? Want to become a steward for yourself? Contact GAU!
Who is a steward?
A steward serves as point person for our union in their respective department. A steward for GAU would:
- Answer union-related questions for other GAs in their department
- Recruit coworkers to union membership
- Invite coworkers to union events
- Inform coworkers of their contractual rights when relevant
- Report to GAU leadership any potential contract violations occurring in their department
Why are stewards important?
UF is a highly decentralized institution, and it is not possible for GAU leadership alone to be present in every department. We need representation in every department to more meaningfully connect with graduate assistants and stay aware of potential contract violations. You are the experts in your own department, and we need that expertise to effectively recruit new members, combat unfair treatment, and strengthen our union.
Want to know the steward in your department? Want to become a steward for yourself? Contact GAU!
Standing and Select Committees
GAU's Standing and Select Committees aide the elected officers in the administration of policies and programs and are the bodies responsible for the general affairs of the Union.
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Bargaining
GAU’s Bargaining Committee negotiates our contract with the UF administration. The bargaining team is responsible for winning stipend raises, fee relief, protecting our health care, and progressing our rights as employees. Our work requires intense preparations, including research on the university budget and graduate employee wages, studying contract language, and crafting bargaining proposals. We also engage in very careful planning over what to say at the negotiating table and how we will react to any surprises UF’s negotiators might spring on us. Join the Bargaining Committee if you want to help fight for a better working environment at UF! |
Sikander Khare Bargaining Chair |
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Grievance
The Grievance Committee represents the members of GAU by protecting and enforcing the rights and benefits listed in our contract. We do this by advising graduate employees on employment-related matters and representing them throughout the formal grievance procedure established by our contract. Becoming involved in the Grievance Committee gives you the opportunity to work alongside members from various departments on campus and, most importantly, advocate for your peers! |
Javier Mesa Grievance Chair |
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Organizing
The organizing committee is in charge of planning and mobilizing direct actions to promote GAU across campus and advance GAU’s general goals. These include conferences, protests, rallies, fundraisers, and other events that gain the attention of the UF administration, students on-campus, and the press in order to inform and put pressure on the university to listen to our concerns. If you are a creative person, with ideas on how to make the voices of graduate employees heard, join us! |
Katie Feerst Organizing Co-Chair |
Antonis Kyriazis Organizing Co-Chair |
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Communications
The GAU communications team is responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive communications strategy for all aspects of the Union’s internal and external communications. Our team manages everything from social media, press releases & media relations, web design, and GAU emails. We are always thinking of new ways to communicate our events, activities, and issue positions to our members and graduate employees at-large. Volunteers with any interests or skills in social media, web design, and press relations are welcome! |
Abhay Alaukik Communications Chair |
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Membership
The GAU Membership Committee is responsible for recruiting and retaining members, including hosting social events, administering membership drives, and overseeing graduate employee orientations. We are fighting to increase our ranks and member benefits, such as discounts at local businesses. We are always looking for new ways to reach new and current members, as well as to engage with our community. Join the Membership Committee if you are interested in helping GAU grow across our campus and community! |
Jacob Fiala Membership Chair |
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Family & Childcare
The Family & Child Care Committee is dedicated to bringing awareness to the needs of graduate employees with families or those who want to start one. We are fighting for expanded family leave, affordable child care, and lower dependent health care costs. The Child Care Research Committee, of which GAU is a part, meets each fall and spring with the aim of creating child care solutions for student parents. You do not need to have dependents to join, just a desire to help protect graduate employees' families! |
Vacant Family & Child Care Chair |
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Health Care
The GAU Health Care Committee is charged with studying the GatorGradCare plan, the services it provides, its cost to the university, and the cost to graduate employees of potential changes. We're here to ensure that graduate employees receive the health benefits guaranteed to them by the contract and fight for the health care services graduate employees need. Upcoming initiatives include safeguarding GatorGradCare in future contract negotiations, identifying unmet graduate employee health care demands, and educating graduate employees about their health care benefits. If you have a health care or insurance background, are a great communicator or writer, or have a general interest in protecting graduate employee health care please join us! |
Nathan Arndt Health Care Chair |
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Mental Health
GAU recently created a Mental Health Committee to determine what the union can do to address mental health issues among the UF graduate student community. The committee is working to find ways to improve the academic and working atmosphere at UF, largely by maintaining and improving the mental health coverage provided by GatorGradCare. If you want to help your fellow graduate employees get better access to mental health care services, please consider joining the committee! |
Vacant Mental Health Chair |
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International Affairs
International graduate employees face unique challenges compared to domestic students, including everything from maintaining their visa status to adapting to a different workplace culture. GAU wants to be able to respond to issues affecting international students, and that starts with our International Affairs Committee! International graduate employees also may have a wide range of perceptions about unions, or even may have never been exposed to one before. If you are interested in reaching out to the international graduate student community, join the Committee! |
Shazz Mburu International Affairs Chair |
UFF Senators & FEA Delegates
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Senator and Delegate positions provide an opportunity for GAU members to be involved in the processes governing our parent unions, United Faculty of Florida (UFF), the Florida Education Association (FEA), the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). UFF Senators and FEA/NEA Delegates are invited to attend their respective sessions – UFF Senate, FEA Delegate Assembly, AFT Delegate Assembly, or NEA Representative Assembly – during their term. AFL-CIO Delegates attend general membership meetings for the North Central Florida chapter of the AFL-CIO.
UFF Senate is held each Fall and Spring semester, where Senators attend training sessions, discuss union issues with other higher-ed chapters in Florida, and vote on the UFF budget. The FEA Delegate Assembly is an annual meeting each Fall where delegates meet to discuss and debate statewide education issues and decide FEA's course for the next year. The NEA Representative Assembly is held during the final week of June and/or the first week of July where delegates vote by secret ballot on the strategic plan and budget, resolutions, Legislative Program, and other policies of the NEA. UFF Senators, FEA Delegates, and AFL-CIO Delegates are elected during Spring UF-GAU elections. NEA Delegates are elected during the February UFF Senate session (so you must be a UFF senator to be a NEA delegate). |
