Senate approves motion in favor of RA Union

President Martin A. Schmidt ’81, Vice President for Student Life Peter Konwerski, and Dean of Students Travis Apgar attended the 24th Senate meeting to address the formation of the RPI Resident Assistant Union. Rensselaer students crowded into the Shelnutt Gallery to attend the meeting and share their experiences with the administration.

The meeting began with President Schmidt, who spoke on the recent timeline of events and addressed the steps administration is taking in response to the RPI Resident Assistant Union. As per the RA Union’s recent letter, the administration chose to hold a full election in April to vote on whether or not to support the Union. The letter had requested the administration either to formally acknowledge the Union or to hold an election in which they would formally vote on whether or not to support the Union. President Schmidt reached out to the RA Union after receiving the letter, but since the Union was unable to meet quorum in order to hold a meeting, the administration planned a formal election for March.

The Senate then opened up three queues for discussion: RA experiences, Administration Response to Union, and overall questions about the Union. Anyone in the room was encouraged to share their thoughts and opinions as well as yield to others in the room as to incite direct administration-student conversation regarding the RA Union.

The RA experiences queue began with a former RA. He stated that certain responsibilities expected of RAs were considered “intrusive,” and mentioned aspects such as having to attend required unpaid training. In addition, he spoke about his dissatisfaction with having to pay for a limited meal plan despite not liking the food, and considered it having to “pay for a dorm one way or another.” President Schmidt responded to this statement, saying that he understood that this was a popular request amongst RAs and the administration was looking into how to address this request. He stated it would be around $800,000 to include a fully covered meal plan into RAs compensation, of which would take about two years to set in. Grand Marshal Cait Bennett ’23G wrapped up the discussion by saying “[the RAs] are clearly a demographic that is struggling and we should be doing everything we can to support it, it really is about more of the ways of which we do that.”

The Senate then opened up a queue for administrative response. Class of 2025 Senator Philip Paterson asked about a time in the past when RAs were exempt from meal plans and questioned why this changed. Bennett said that around 2009 or 2010, food company Sodexo neglected to compensate for RA meal plans in the formal contract they made with RPI, which was discussed with several of the administration on the accuracy of the statement. Graduate Senator Alexander Lutsevich mentioned a current “lack of trust” between the RAs and the administration, and questioned the administration on how they planned to establish that line of trust between the two. In response, President Schmidt suggested an idea of creating joint committees and advisory groups that would serve as a rapport between administration and students to keep the two communicating.

Several additional students questioned the administration on topics such as RAs' duties in comparison to other institutions and pay regarding number of students. Konwerski and Apgar fielded both topics, detailing that although RPI is a private institution, the administration works to ensure that they are doing the right thing given the university as a whole as its concern.

The final queue was opened for general questions, in which the motion to support the RA Union was presented up on the screen. Graduate Senator Adrien Alicia Roman ’23G spoke first, thanking the administration for working alongside the students and said the RAs are all looking forward to the election. Paterson additionally thanked the administration, and said he believed holding the election was a “step in the right direction,” and was giving the RAs their right by considering supporting the Union. Konwerski responded to both by saying the administration plans to work closely with the RAs and support them through this process, especially as the election comes up. Apgar then added to the conversation, saying that “RAs are students first” and that he wants to help RAs who are unhappy with their situation. In general, both members of the Senate and the administration agreed that direct communication will be vital as the election nears and the RAs plan to unionize.

After a five minute recess, the Senate motioned to vote to both support the RA Union and ask that the administration as a whole hold an election through the National Labor Relations Board. The motion passed 12-1-0.

In addition, the Senate briefly discussed that the ability for students to have their preferred names on their student IDs has been approved and will definitely occur at the earliest by fall 2023.

Paterson gave a brief update on the REN exchange program and reported that REN exchange workers are being hired under a third party contractor which has resulted in temporary unemployed students as they move into the new program. The Senate then decided to move the discussion to after GM week, where they will continue on the topic.

This Student Senate meeting was held on February 22. The next meeting will be held Wednesday, March 15 at 8 pm in the Shelnutt Gallery.