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! |
Amanda Markee 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! |
Shayce Johnston 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! |
Eva Garcia Ferres 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! |
Mikayla Darrows 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! |
Caitlin Clarke 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! |
Sarah VanSchoick 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! |
Vacant 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! |
Che Williams 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! |
Jacqueline Schnieber International Affairs Chair |
Akhil Kshirsagar International Affairs Co-Chair |
