Press Release

GEO's Four Year Effort Pays Off: IU Extends Dental Coverage to Grad Student Employees

Since 2004, GEO has been fighting for the interests of graduate student employees at Indiana University, and after years of agitating for dental coverage, GEO has won: in an email dated January 22, 2008, Dean of the University Graduate School, James C. Wimbush, announced that IU will extend dental coverage to all Student Academic Appointees (SAAs) beginning the following academic year.

This is momentous news, and GEO's tireless efforts certainly have helped IU's trustees and administrators understand that graduate student employees need affordable health coverage-including dental care. Indeed, GEO's demonstrations at the Sample Gates in 2006, sit-ins in Bryan Hall in 2005 and 2006, and numerous letter-writing campaigns, petitions, and meetings with university officials have played a large role in the acquisition of dental coverage for SAAs.

GEO is immensely proud of its work and is extremely pleased that IU has decided to improve the living conditions of graduate student employees. Like faculty and other campus professionals, SAAs work hard every day to ensure that IU maintains its excellent reputation as a high-caliber research and teaching institution. We hope that IU will continue to provide affordable health coverage for its SAAs and their dependents.

Dental Campaign Victory!!!!!

Tear open that bag of Gummy Bears without guilt, fellow employees and graduate students: we won! At long last, Student Academic Appointees on the Bloomington campus will have full dental coverage beginning in August 2008. Here's part of the email Dean of the University Graduate School James Wimbush sent out yesterday:


I am delighted to inform you that IU will provide dental coverage for
Student Academic Appointees (SAAs) who are appointed at 37.5% FTE,
beginning in the Fall Semester 2008. The new coverage will be
announced publically on Wednesday. As many of you have waited for this
coverage for a long time, I wanted to share the good news with you
early.

IU will pay the full cost of the new plan's premiums, which will
generally cover the entire cost of preventive care along with some of
the cost of restorative and major dental work. The maximum benefit is
$500 a year, with a deductible ($25/visit) for restorative and major
dental work. As with medical benefits that Student Academic Appointees
receive, you will have the option of purchasing dental coverage for
your spouse and children.

The GEO has been fighting for a dental plan for over 5 years now, and it's great to finally see a victory on this one. We know how busy, how overworked, how stressed and how overloaded you all are--because we are, too. But we must take the momentum from this victory and press for better conditions on this campus. We already know of a few issues affecting graduate employees, but we want to hear more from YOU. How can we best serve all of your needs, and what campaigns should we take up? Here's a list of issues that we know of right now:

• restoration of slashed health benefits and dependent care premiums
  
• the need for lactation rooms in more classroom buildings
• office space

Leave some comments about what you need, and what you think. We want this blog to be interactive and informative. And pass the gummy bears, please.

About GEO

The Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) is an independent group that organizes and represents Indiana University's graduate students to advocate for themselves as employees. GEO is currently working in cooperation with the Communication Workers of America (CWA), a union that represents IU's support staff, and we may affiliate officially with them in the future

GEO is an independent body comprised solely of graduate employees. The GPSO is organized under the auspices of the university administration and represents us primarily in our role as students. While GPSO is a student government, GEO hopes to be a union of and for graduate employees. GEO works in cooperation with GPSO (several GEO members serve as GPSO representatives), and we believe that both institutions are vital for IU's graduate student body.

GEO is open to all graduate employees in all disciplines, including international students. In addition, we welcome graduate students who are not currently serving as employees who may serve as employees in coming years.