United RAs at Penn launched a petition Tuesday that it said aims to stop the University from eliminating certain graduate resident advisor positions.
The Dec. 9 petition — which has garnered over 200 signatures — stated that URAP learned of the policy change “through indirect sources.” According to the petition, an email exchange between “our member and Vice Provost for Graduate Education Kelly Jordan-Scuitto” informed URAP that Penn allegedly plans to remove graduate associates “who also perform research or instructional services” from their positions.
“For academic reasons and in accordance with University policy, during the regular fall and spring terms 20 hours of employment per week is the maximum allowed for all students, including graduate and professional students,” a University spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “The University is reviewing compliance with this policy and its impact on various employment roles for the next academic year.”
The 20-hour-per-week limit is listed on Penn Human Resources’ website and is also a federal policy for students on F-1 visas.
“For years, Graduate RAs have been valued members of the Penn community. Penn’s administration has never articulated concerns about the performance or viability of GRAs,” the petition read. “Now, without any justification, the University has mentioned to some GRAs that their colleagues who perform research or instructional services will be categorically barred from contract renewal.”
According to the email, which was obtained by the DP, Jordan-Scuitto wrote that “graduate and professional students who perform research or instructional services will not be serving as GRAs next academic year University wide, independent of their school.”
“I understand the value of serving as a GRA for our graduate students and the value of having GRAs serve in the residence halls for the undergraduate students,” Jordan-Scuitto wrote in the email. “It is why I and a team of folks in our office and President’s office have been looking for an alternate solution since the beginning of the academic year.”
A URAP spokesperson wrote to the DP that both the union and its representation, the Office and Professional Employees International Union — Local 153, “have reached out to Penn admin to confirm Dr. Jordan-Scuitto’s comments with no response— neither to affirm or deny.”
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In the petition, URAP wrote that it “does not believe it is a coincidence” that this action comes as Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania is over a year into the bargaining process for its first contract. GET-UP overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike in November.
“Penn’s administration is playing politics with the lives of its own students,” the URAP petition read.
College junior Zach McGrath — who serves as a local shop steward for the union — wrote in a statement to the DP that “any effort to eliminate the GRA position is profoundly short-sighted.”
”From my understanding, the GRAs would still be on contract until the end of this academic year. And then when the College House [system] is closed this May, they’re out of the job,” he added in an interview with the DP.
The union is demanding that Penn halt the policy change, issue apologies to GRAs, and reinstate summer housing for GRAs — a policy which it alleges “abruptly ended against our policy and past practice.”
Penn’s resident advisors and GRAs first voted to unionize in September 2023 before ratifying a historic first contract in June 2024, following six months of bargaining.
Since the contract’s ratification, URAP has alleged that Penn violated its contract and engaged in union-busting tactics on multiple occasions. In August 2024, the union filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the University was suppressing GRAs’ ability to seek additional on-campus employment.
At the time, URAP alleged that Penn informed GRAs that RA jobs had begun to count towards the 20-hour-per-week campus employment limit and flagged them for additional on-campus employment surpassing that limit.
Later that month, GRAs alleged issues with being excused from mandatory College Houses and Academic Services trainings for academic obligations — issues that they said arose for the first time following the ratification of the union’s contract.
“An attack on any of us is an attack on all of us,” the union wrote in the petition. “We will fight to overturn this capricious policy change. We will fight to reverse all punitive actions taken by Penn’s administration. And we will not stop fighting until all RAs are adequately supported and compensated in line with the importance of our work.”
