In the next academic year, graduate students may receive a $500 stipend increase, thanks to a vote by the Graduate Assistants Student Union.
The Board of Trustees is yet to approve the increase, but if it does, it will only affect about 600 of the 4,000 graduate assistants at UF.
While we applaud the university for giving out raises in the midst of its own budget cuts, it could still give more.
For the majority of UF students, $500 barely covers the cost of rent and utilities for one month.
Additionally, UF denied the union's request for $400 bonuses for all graduate assistants. However, in late August the university announced its plans to hire about 100 new faculty with $10 million in stimulus money.
Giving each of the 4,000 graduate assistants a $400 bonus would cost the university about $160,000.
That's less than 2 percent of the cost of the administration's proposed hiring plan.
Graduate assistants teach foreign language, math and science classes, in addition to conducting their own research and taking classes.
At the Alligator, we know what it's like to balance a shiteous wage with a shiteous course load and wanting a little more appreciation for it.
Graduate assistants work like dogs, and UF should throw them a bigger bone.
