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.