ASUNM senators passed resolutions supporting graduate student employees and lowering textbook costs at Wednesday’s meeting.
Sen. Adrian Cortinas said both measures aim to help students through deep budget cuts.
“Graduate assistants teach about 20 percent of these lower-level courses,” Cortinas said. “As New Mexico’s flagship University, it’s important for UNM to maintain the highest quality possible of education.”
Sen. Alonzo Castillo supported the resolution, but he said he is concerned about supporting GAs who don’t deserve support.
“I absolutely don’t want to see hundreds of grads lose their jobs,” Castillo said. “It’s supporting those graduate teachers that are terrible — that aren’t helping out the undergraduate students by being a horrible teacher.”
GPSA Council Chair Megan McRobert helped draft the resolution and said GAs are often not given adequate training before being put in charge of a classroom.
“Right now graduate students are so cheap. They are being left completely on their own (to teach),” she said. “My guess is that every time you’ve had a TA who was subpar, their training was subpar.”
Senators also agreed that textbooks are too pricey and encouraged buying electronic or cheaper textbooks.
Sen. Greg Golden said the average cost of textbooks per year for students totaled $900. He said the resolution encourages students to work for lower textbook prices and talk to professors about alternatives.
“If it ends up being this piece of paper, then it’s not going to do much, but if people actually advocate for it — that’s the goal,” Golden said. “If you put the hammer on the head long enough, even if you sit there and try and drill a steel nail into concrete, eventually you’ll make some leeway.”
Breanna Hastings, NMPIRG president, was at the meeting and said the resolution matched her organization’s mission.
“It’s pretty clear that in these economic times that we need to help find solutions to help ease the burden on students,” she said.
Other items discussed at Wednesday’s meeting:
Student Affairs representatives gave another presentation about the student-funded recreational center, though students vetoed the idea earlier this month. The center would cost students $117 per semester for 30 years. Sen. Parker said a rec center would eventually be appropriate, but asking students to pay for a new center now is unrealistic.
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