Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope said he has recently noticed more professors are hiring research associates than research assistants, and he’s not happy about it.
Cope spoke at the last Faculty Senate meeting about the trend, which he said he believes could eventually prove detrimental to the University.
He said research assistants are only allowed to work 20 hours each week, but associates are allowed to work up to 40 hours each week, making them more desirable to professors.
Cope said if the trend continues, it could cause graduate students to seek their educations elsewhere.
George Stanley, chemistry professor and Faculty Senate secretary, said he hasn’t noticed the trend in the Chemistry department but he can see why it would occur.
Stanley said the University was once able to waive tuition for research assistants but is now required to pay each assistant’s tuition.
He said each assistant’s yearly stipend is about $23,000, depending on the department and grant, and the cost of tuition often pushes that number up to $30,000 or more.
“You can hire a research associate for about that much,” Stanley said. “And you’d be bringing in someone who already knows what they’re doing. It’s definitely made hiring them more attractive.”
More faculty members hiring associates instead of assistants could also make it more difficult to find grants later on, and Stanley said it could also affect the amount of research the University can do each year.
“If we can’t support enough research assistants each year, we’ll get a lot less research done,” he said.
Stanley said the issue has affected students who receive fellowships as well.
Fellowships provide students with a set amount of money to cover tuition, but it’s hardly ever enough.
Stanley has come up with a proposal to combat the problem, which he’s shown to several other faculty members and members of the administration.
He proposed that the University accept the amount a fellowship offers and waive whatever remains, but he said many University officials disagree.
“The University sees exemptions as lost money,” he said. “But at a certain point, we need a little less counting nickels and dimes and a little more doing the right thing.”
 
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Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]