Dear President Cauce, Dean Stacey and Provost Baldasty,

We, the undersigned students, faculty and community members, are concerned about the unprecedented cuts to College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Assistants planned for the upcoming academic year.

These cuts undermine the core mission of the University; they dramatically impact teaching and learning on campus. Teaching Assistants (TAs) provide over half of the instructional hours to undergraduate students and planned cuts will dramatically erode the quality of undergraduate education. In the History Department, for example, administrators are eliminating one-third of all TA positions. This level of cuts not only jeopardizes our ability to provide quality instruction, it also undermines the ability of faculty and graduate students to conduct research. These cuts diminish the University.

Like any layoffs, cuts to TA positions mean that UW graduate students will face economic hardship and uncertainty, a reality compounded by the fact that Seattle is among the most expensive cities in the country. Without funding, many will have to find new ways to pay rent, buy groceries, and afford tuition. Health care is another concern, as many graduate students have families, and cutting positions impairs their ability to access health care for themselves and their children. Doubtless these cuts will result in some having to leave their programs in search of income and security elsewhere.

These cuts punish the most vulnerable among us, and those least responsible for the budget shortfalls in the College of Art and Sciences. We know that overall University budgets are robust and healthy, with a $3 billion and growing endowment and a state budget allocation that includes a backfill for tuition reduction adopted by the legislature in 2015. We also know that the university administration has stepped in to prevent cuts to TAs in the past. In 2010, when the UW threatened to cut 440 TA quarters during the Great Recession, the Provost ultimately allocated $10 million in central funds to offset the cuts. Simply put, these cuts are not justified and they are not inevitable. The UW administration can and must exercise leadership to reverse these cuts and preserve the educational mission of the university.

We stand in solidarity with our TAs and implore you not to make any cuts to graduate positions.

Sincerely,