University of Houston (UH) has finally agreed to hike salaries of teaching fellows in the English department after around 70 of them protested for four days outside the University Chancellor, Renu Khator's office, early this month.
This is the first time in 20 years that teaching fellows have received a hike
Along with the teaching fellows, lecturers also participated in the protest.
"We're feeling great," Austin Tremblay, an English TF, said. "We're really deeply appreciative of the offer that President Khator made; especially considering her offer was intended to help with our 20-year struggle."
Khator also agreed to allocate $1 million a year to the departments to raise the income of teaching fellows/assistants who teach the UH undergraduate core curriculum.
Out of $1 million, how much amount will be allocated to each department is not yet specified. The results will be announced after consultation with Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dean John Roberts and Provost Paula Short.
In addition, she also wants to establish a university-wide task force to address issues and support teaching assistants and fellows.
Currently, they are being paid $9,600 to $11,200 a year to teach freshman composition classes, which places them below the poverty line. They are expected to teach 20 hours per week besides working on their graduate or PHD degrees.
The University of Houston, founded in 1927, is a public state research university. It is spread on 667 acres and comprises of nearly 41,000 students.
The university offers over 300 degree programs through its 12 academic colleges including professional degrees in law, optometry and pharmacy.
