International Students are a critical part of UW’s academic culture, but have increasingly been targeted for fee/tuition increases. A new petition created by a coalition of student groups asks the Board of Regents to reverse their decision to impose a new International Student Fee.
Sign the Petition Now!
Background
In June of this year, thanks to the work of hundreds of UAW 4121 members in coalition with student groups, unions, and other higher education stakeholders we succeeded in stopping efforts by the Washington State Senate to single out international students for a tuition surcharge.
In July of this year, after the State Legislature had adjourned, the University of Washington Regents took action to approve a new international student fee (currently set at $45 per quarter, with no upper limit on future increases). The University’s supporting documents cite the need for funding international student services, as well as paying for an increase in “student misconduct” cases (the majority of which are not due to international students).
Take Action
As we pointed out in an earlier email, an arbitration decision from last year made it clear that imposing new fees on Academic Student Employees with 50% FTE appointments is a violation of our contract. However we’re standing in solidarity with many other groups (including the Chinese Student Scholars Association, Indonesian Student Association, Korean Graduate Student Association, Korean Student Association, Taiwanese Student Association, Malaysian Student Association, and the Japanese Student Association) who have started a petition to the Board of Regents, asking them to reverse their decision. The Graduate and Professional Student Senate has also taken a position opposing the fee.
Sign the Petition!
Help take a stand (again!) against the trend of targeting international students. Join other concerned members of the higher education community – both international and domestic – who are saying this fee is unfair and unnecessary, and hurts our ability to create a culturally diverse academic community.
Thanks for taking action, and don’t hesitate to let us know if you have questions.