Task Force Proposes TA Stipend Boost

The Teaching Assistant Advisory Task Force has completed the first step toward its goal of increasing TA compensation to a competitive level and is asking UNC-Chapel Hill officials to consider raising the average TA stipend by about $3,000.

Task force members, led by Chairman Steve Allred, produced a report Jan. 7 to help officials decide whether to improve TA compensation.

The report analyzes the state of TA stipends, recommends an appropriate level of compensation and develops a plan to achieve that level.

After sorting through data collected from 17 peer institutions, the task force determined that the average TA stipend is $13,272, with UNC-CH falling well below that figure. The data ranged from $11,060 at Ohio State University to $16,792 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. UNC-CH placed in the lowest quarter with an average of $11,379.

The goal of the task force became to move UNC-CH up from the lowest quarter to the highest quarter, requiring an average TA stipend of $14,388 in current dollars.

The task force also supplied an alternative amount adjusted to the cost of living, resulting in an average TA stipend of $13,233 with a 3 percent cost-of-living increase per year during the four-year implementation period.

"On the one hand, it's ambitious trying to move from the bottom quarter to the top quarter. ... It obviously is bold," Allred said Monday. "But, on the other hand, this is a serious issue and ... we can't walk away saying we're satisfied here on the bottom quarter."

The increase, which would span four years, would cost UNC-CH about $5.5 million. The task force suggested two sources of funding: campus-based tuition increases and state appropriations.

Originally, task force members planned to implement the plan for the TA compensation increase this semester.

But the UNC-system Board of Governors' decision Friday to freeze tuition increases for one year put a stop to that goal, members said. "Part of the plan is contingent upon the funds being there," said Branson Page, Graduate and Professional Student Federation president. "Even though there will be a freeze on tuition that will just offset the money for that year, at least ... we've taken the first step, which was a huge one."

Despite the postponement, Allred said that the completion date for the compensation increase is still four years from now and that TA work remains essential to the University. "Even if we don't get an action this year ... it's important to start making the case to all interested parties that we need to improve TA compensation," Allred said.

The report, which has been approved by the provost, will be up for review by the University Affairs Committee of the UNC-CH Board of Trustees on Jan. 22.

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.