Northwestern University must meet the following demands:
Funding:
Provide a universal one year funding extension to all currently enrolled students; extend all time-to-degree deadlines by one year; and guarantee six years of funding for all graduate students entering Northwestern in Fall 2020 or after.
Remove all eligibility restrictions on GA-ships and remove limits on the number and usage of banked quarters of funding.
Support International Students by providing a one year funding extension, without which extension of students’ I-20s/DS-2019s would be jeopardized, as well as financial and legal assistance with maintaining visa status, such as reimbursement of all fees associated with visa renewal. Match any federal financial aid accorded to US citizens and permanent residents with an equivalent amount for international students who are not eligible.
Health and Safety:
Divest completely from the Evanston Police Department (EPD) and Chicago Police Department (CPD), two departments with a history of violence against Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. This includes cancelling all contracts with EPD/CPD, barring the police departments from campus protests organized by the Northwestern community, ending all joint-patrols and information-sharing, disbanding the Northwestern University Police Department, and entrusting the safety of the university community to unarmed mediation and intervention teams with third-party oversight.
Implement emergency three-day sick, family, and bereavement leave without documentation for all graduate workers, and commit to covering all health costs resulting from COVID-19 that are incurred by graduate workers and their dependents. This coverage must also extend to all graduate students who finish their degrees during the crisis, until coverage is provided by another employer.
Subsidize NU-SHIP coverage for children of graduate students and offer resources to student parents who are balancing research with full-time caregiving.
Strengthen protections for lab workers under the Return to Research Policy by implementing third party oversight of lab safety plans, proactively planning for a return to essential research in the event of a secondary outbreak, allowing for anonymous reports of non-compliance specifically related to COVID-19 safety protocols, and guaranteeing protection from retaliation for individuals who report non-compliance with a transparent protocol for enforcement.
Equity:
Meet all of the Coalition NU’s demands, including that TGS center diversity, equity and inclusion in its leadership, staff and funding; equitably support graduate student associations (GSAs) that serve underrepresented and underserved graduate students; and support the Native and Indigenous graduate community at Northwestern (specifically the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research).
Meet the demand of laid off service workers for full compensation and benefits equal to their full-time status for the entire Spring Quarter.
