Plans in place for week of classes

Students should still plan to attend class and faculty and staff should plan to teach and work as they normally would in the event of a Teaching Assistants’ Association work stoppage, says Provost Peter Spear.

University officials are creating a Web site to provide updates and timely answers to frequently asked questions.

“We believe that students are entitled to the full value of a semester’s education and should not be penalized by actions of the TAA,” says Spear. “We support the TAA’s goal of securing a competitive economic package and hope that a settlement can be reached. However, we do not condone the proposed TAA job action.”

The TAA has voted for a two-day walkout Tuesday and Wednesday (April 27 and 28) and has said that it may withhold grades at the end of the semester.

Although the TAA action may cause some disruption of normal schedules, the university expects that classes that are scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday, but do not meet, either will be made up or equivalent work assigned, before the end of the semester.

“On the whole, we expect the university to operate as normally as possible,” he says. “We hope members of the campus community will approach this situation with a spirit of patience and flexibility.”

An end of semester grade strike may cause some inconvenience to students and faculty, but all students and their parents should be assured that grades will be issued at the end of the semester, Spear says. The university is establishing a taskforce to deal with grading problems and procedures.

“Providing timely, accurate grades is part of our obligation to students,” he says. “Over the course of the next few weeks, departments in Letters & Science and other colleges will work with administrators to create a workable system so that this can be accomplished.”

In addition, an email address will be established answer all instructional and grade-related concerns for all students with questions or concerns.