Department of Global Studies - UC Santa Barbara

UCSB Global Studies Department statement on withholding grades

The faculty of the Global Studies Department at the University of California Santa Barbara supports the 2022 UAW Strike of academic workers represented by UAW 2865, UAW 5810, and SRU-UAW. UC graduate workers, postdoctoral scholars, and academic researchers make our core missions of research and education possible. Systemic changes to address cost of living crises that affect student accessibility and opportunity within the UC system are long overdue.

The Global Studies department faculty members express their support of these workers, and stand in solidarity with the strikers. We will not perform—or hire others to perform—work that would ordinarily be done by a striking graduate student, postdoc, or researcher. We pledge grade withholding and grade submission for the Fall 2022 quarter, in solidarity with faculty who cannot post grades without graduate labor. In addition, as we affirmed in our last statement, we will not engage in retaliation based on academic workers' participation or non-participation in strike activities in all matters under our direct control, and we will publicly oppose unlawful retaliation measures against either striking students or faculty respecting the picket line, should these be proposed by the University.