UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA
LOCAL 256 (MIT GSU)
and
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY
Memorandum of Agreement
Background:
The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, and its affiliate UE Local 256 (MIT GSU) (hereinafter called “the Union”), represents certain graduate student-employees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (“MIT” or “the Institute”). The parties are negotiating a Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”), which contains a Discipline and Discharge Article. The Union has sought to include procedures and requirements for discipline and/or discharges stemming from students’ academic performance, which would allow represented student-employees to grieve academic evaluations and decisions insofar as they result in discipline or discharge from employment. MIT maintains that academic matters such as this are non-mandatory subjects of bargaining and should neither be subject to the grievance process nor contained in the parties’ CBA. However, MIT agrees that the Institute, the represented student-employees, and other graduate students would benefit from processes to be used to receive, evaluate, and resolve student appeals of departmental and program recommendations for students who fail to meet minimum academic standards.
In the interests of advancing cooperation and good relations between the parties, MIT and the Union agree to the following:
1. Within the first twelve (12) months following ratification of the CBA, MIT shall publish procedures to be used by the Graduate Academic Performance Group (GAPG) to receive, evaluate, and resolve student appeals of departmental recommendations for students who fail to meet minimum academic standards.
2. The published procedures shall incorporate the following principles:
a. All graduate students shall be provided with the criteria for satisfactory academic progress in their graduate degree program.
b. A written warning notifying a graduate student of failure to maintain satisfactory progress toward a degree shall be provided in advance of dismissal from their graduate program.
c. A reasonable opportunity and plan through which the graduate student may feasibly reestablish good academic standing shall be provided prior to academic dismissal.
d. If relevant, a Notification of Dismissal with a written explanation shall be issued to any student dismissed for academic reasons.
3. Additionally, the Office of Graduate Education will establish and publish procedures to provide oversight of voluntary student withdrawals and refer cases to the GAPG as appropriate.
4. During the process of establishing the procedures in 1–3 above, MIT shall provide the Union with reports on the progress of this process and current status of these procedures no less frequently than once every three (3) months. The Union shall have the right to offer feedback on the procedures to MIT.
5. Neither the published procedures nor the application of such procedures shall be subject to the CBA’s grievance and arbitration processes.
6. The parties acknowledge that this Memorandum does not set a precedent for any other matters.
7. By offering and signing this Memorandum, MIT does not in any way concede that such academic matters constitute mandatory subjects of bargaining.