Bring Decency Back to AU: Restore Education Benefits for Service Workers
47 Years of Serving Food in the Terrace Dining Room and Still No Tuition Benefits.
Is This the Best AU Can Do? Is This Respect for the Labor of Others?
White-Collar Workers Gain Tuition Remission after 4 Months. Cooks and cleaners are left out forever.
Restore Educational Benefits to Cooks and Cleaners Today.
They lost this benefit during a privatization drive in the mid 80s.
Background
Have the cooks and cleaners on campus ever received tuition benefits for themselves and their children?
In the mid 1980s, the university privatized dining and cleaning services on campus, and brought in outside vendors to manage cooking and cleaning services.
According to Nancy Bryant, who worked in the Terrace Dining Room for over thirty years, the workers kept their free tuition benefits for a few years, but then the benefits were revoked.
Since the late 80s, the cooks in the Terrace Dining Room and all the food related workers at all the snack bars on campus, and all the cleaners in the residence halls and other buildings have not had the benefit of free tuition for themselves or their children.
White collar workers and the blue collar workers in the construction trades on campus receive free classes through tuition remission for themselves after four months and for their children after two years.
What exactly are the benefits which AU is keeping from cooks and cleaners?
From AU’s Website: http://www.american.edu/hr/ProfDev-Education.cfm
EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS
After four months of active full-time employment, American University offers tuition remission for eligible employees, spouses and same-sex domestic partners at American University and Wesley Theological Seminary.
After two year of active full-time employment, your eligible dependent child(ren) may receive:
- American University or Wesley Theological Seminary undergraduate scholarships for up to four academic years, or
- American University or Wesley Theological Seminary graduate tuition scholarships for up to two academic years, or
- Undergraduate tuition scholarships at over 600+ colleges and universities through the Tuition Exchange network for up to four academic year.
Rules and restrictions apply and some benefits are taxable.
What are some of the 600 schools where AU administrators and faculty sent their children for free each year if they don’t send them to AU for free?
See the list of the schools which exclude AU cooks and cleaners at http://www.tuitionexchange.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/Families%7CMember%20Schools
and more information at http://www.american.edu/americantoday/features/20100119-tuition-benefits-explained.cfm
What Has the University Said in the Past about Its Arrogant and Disrespectful Treatment of Cooks and Cleaners?
President Kerwin has said that the University can’t provide educational help to employees of vendors on campus. This is misinformation. The University under its charter can provide educational benefits to anyone, anywhere, anytime it chooses.
What Can You Do Today?
Help spread the word so all the world knows about this out of touch, indifferent, and disrespectful policy of AU administrators. The nine highest paid leaders at AU need to step up and show moral leadership for a change.
Please ask your family and friends around the world to write these individuals, and ask these campus leaders to begin including cooks and cleaners in tuition benefits.
(The names are from guidestar.com–See Form 990)
President Cornelius Kerwin: ckerwin@american.edu
Provost Scott Bass: sbass@american.edu
University Counsel Mary Kennard: mekesq@american.edu
VP Campus Life Gail Short Hanson:gsher@american.edu
VP Development Thomas Minar: tjm@american.edu
VP Communication Teresa Flannery:flannery@american.edu
Dean of Law School Claudio Grossman: grossman@american.edu
Asst. VP and CIO David Swartz: dswartz@american.edu
Assoc. VP Finance Douglas Kudravetz: doug@american.edu