Dear Temple community,

Since November 2025, the university has been negotiating a new contract with the Temple University Graduate Students’ Association (TUGSA), the union that represents some graduate students who work part-time as teaching and research assistants. We have been providing updates on negotiations via this website. As we have now reached a point where economic proposals have been exchanged, we want to provide an update to the community.  

Our graduate assistants are integral to Temple’s teaching and research mission, and we value the work they do in our classrooms and labs. From the first bargaining session, the university has made clear that it wants to increase graduate assistants’ stipends. University representatives have urged TUGSA to share an economic proposal as soon as possible. TUGSA has brought numerous non-economic proposals to the table, and the university has responded to each one. The union’s first economic proposal was presented to university representatives on Oct. 5, 2026, more than 10 months after bargaining began. The university responded at the next scheduled session on Oct. 21 with its own economic proposal.

As full-time students and part-time employees, graduate assistants work an average of 20 hours a week during the nine-month academic year, allowing them to devote the rest of their time to their own coursework and research. Assistantships are not designed to be full-time jobs. Instead, the university invests in each graduate assistant through a package built around their education that includes the following benefits.

• Full tuition. Graduate assistants pay no tuition for their graduate education.
• Fully paid health coverage. The university pays 100% of individual health insurance premiums, year-round. This is a benefit unique to TUGSA members that no other Temple employee, union or non-union, receives.
• A stipend. A minimum of $27,000 for part-time work during the nine-month academic year.

Together, the minimum package for a TUGSA member is currently worth $55,844 a year for part-time work nine months of the year. More broadly, in fiscal year 2026, Temple’s graduate students, excluding those in professional programs, received more than $20 million in tuition remission including more than $14 million in grants and scholarships.

The university’s first economic counterproposal on Oct. 21 included

• a four-year contract with 2-2.25% increases to the minimum stipend each year;
• an increase in the minimum stipend from $27,000 to approximately $29,297 by the final year of the contract; and
• year-round individual health coverage that remains 100% paid by the university. 

TUGSA’s contract expired in February 2026, and graduate assistants have not received a stipend increase since August 2025. The university has proposed meeting more often and for longer sessions to reach an agreement. The sooner the university and TUGSA agree on a new contract, the sooner graduate assistants will receive increases to their annual stipends.

As responsible stewards of university resources, our goal is to confirm a fair contract that recognizes the important work of our graduate students; protects the university’s ability to admit, fully fund and train the next generation of graduate students who help drive our research; and keeps a Temple education affordable for the students and families we serve. You can read more in today’s Temple Now piece.

The next bargaining session is scheduled for Nov. 16. You can stay up to date on progress made here.

Sincerely,

Sharon Boyle 
Vice President for Human Resources