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“Students think that this consultation lacks transparency because this proposal has been created by administration,” she said. “The GSA was informed about the current proposal at the beginning of this year, and they said that we would have an opportunity to give feedback.

“I don’t feel any windows for us to give feedback have been provided.”

On Thursday, Interim Dean of the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Trever Crowe held a meeting called Demystify How Graduate Tuition is Set.

Candice Klein, a doctoral candidate in the history department, was one of about 50 students, faculty members and department heads who filled a classroom at the Thorvaldson Building.

Klein said she didn’t know what the meeting would entail until she and other students were alerted by faculty that it was in their interest to attend. She said it was also the first time she was made aware just how significant the increases would be.

As poverty and food insecurity are already concerns among her peers, Klein wondered whether there will be a corresponding increase in graduate student wages. Currently, students make about $20 per hour.

According to research from the U of S, rising tuition costs play a major role in food insecurity, something nearly 40 per cent of students at the school experience to some degree.

“We’re already some of the most precariously employed people in the institution,” she said. “We’re not going to be able to do our jobs, our quality of research will absolutely degrade, it’s going to take us longer to finish our degrees.