{"id":527,"date":"2015-07-21T19:26:46","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T19:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/columbiagradunion.org\/?page_id=527"},"modified":"2016-12-20T16:11:55","modified_gmt":"2016-12-20T16:11:55","slug":"due-process","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/columbiagradunion.org\/campaigns\/due-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Due Process"},"content":{"rendered":"
Without a union contract, research and teaching assistants at Columbia University do not have the right to a fair grievance procedure (due process), and are instead left to hope for the goodwill of the administration is one of the many reasons we need to continue organizing and win recognition of our union. A typical union contract will have due process and a fair grievance procedure requiring just cause for dismissal.<\/p>\n
<\/a>In March 2015 PhD student Longxi Zhao was terminated from his teaching assistantship in the Columbia University department of Chemical Engineering during Spring 2015. He was not dismissed from his position as a student, but without his assistantship, he was left with no income or tuition support. Below are the basic facts of what happened.<\/p>\n TERMINATION OF TA POSITION<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n After excelling in the Master\u2019s program, Longxi was admitted to the PhD program and assigned as a Teaching Assistant in Spring 2015. Under the supervision of Professor Scott Banta, Longxi was one of two TA\u2019s assigned to CHEN4230 Reactor Design. On March 23, upon returning from spring break Longxi was notified of his termination through a letter<\/a> signed by his principal investigator, Professor Sanat Kumar, listing four reasons for his termination.<\/p>\n NAVIGATING THE LACK OF DUE PROCESS FOR GRADUATE WORKERS AT COLUMBIA<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Longxi began exploring options to appeal his termination.\u00a0 Given the lack of clear procedures for such situations, he began working with activists from GWC-UAW, the union for graduate research and teaching assistants at Columbia to formally file his appeal<\/a> (click here to read Longxi\u2019s full appeal<\/a>). The allegations and his rebuttals follow below.<\/p>\n Longxi\u2019s trip home to China did not interfere with his TA duties. He had verbal permission from Professor Banta to go on vacation during Spring Break, but Banta did not know that he was planning on going home to China for break. In the beginning of the semester, Banta expressed discontent with Longxi traveling to China because in his words, \u201cI don\u2019t trust China.\u201d When challenged, he became angry and told Longxi to \u201cremember who feeds you,\u201d shutting down the conversation.<\/p>\n Longxi\u2019s co-TA was responsible for proctoring the make-up quizzes that day.<\/p>\n The course syllabus contained no policy regarding late homework. When Professor Banta clarified his rules for grading, Longxi immediately informed his students and followed the new policy.<\/p>\n Longxi sent an email apologizing to his students for issues with Courseworks in which he used an inappropriate word to describe his own struggles with the grading software. After Banta complained about this language, , Longxi immediately apologized and committed to not use the word again. He also pointed out his status as a non-native English speaker and explained that he did not understand that using the f-word in relation to himself was inappropriate.<\/p>\n FILING AN APPEAL WITH DEAN KACHANI<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n After speaking with Dean Ellie Bastani and Dean Tiffany Simon, Longxi was advised to file an appeal<\/a> with Dean Soulaymane Kachani. During this process, Longxi asked numerous times which procedures were being used as guidelines for his appeal, receiving no responses. In his appeal, Longxi refuted all claims made against him. But his appeal was denied by Dean Kachani<\/a>. When Longxi emailed Dean Kachani In an attempt to better understand why he had made this decision, Dean Kachani\u2019s response was \u201cthe decision I sent you is clear and final, and is not up for a discussion.” No formal process governing termination of Teaching Assistants exists at Columbia.<\/p>\n CAMPUS WIDE SUPPORT FOR LONGXI AND THE NEED FOR DUE PROCESS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n
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