Education & Affordable Housing
A three-year battle to reinstate tuition remission at the University of Houston ended with a major win for the University of Houston’s Staff Council at the Spring Forum on March 4.
UH President Dr. Jay Gogue announced at the Spring Forum that $300,000 a year would be available to support staff scholarships. The Board of Regents is set to finalize all terms in April.
For nearly three years, UH’s Staff Council, along with the Texas State Employee Union, had been pushing to reinstate tuition remission for UH graduate workers. UH campuses in Downtown and Clearlake already have such plans.
“We were asking for consistency within the system,” said TSEU Representative Pat Gooding.
Because tuition remission is not funded by legislature, individual universities had to lobby within the system for funding. Many universities like UH sought the assistance of TSEU.
According to Staff Affairs Committee Chair Cathy Murphy, reinstating tuition remission at UH was a major goal for Staff Council.
“Our priority is always to have an educated staff at the University of Houston,” said Murphy. “We thank Dr. Gogue for working with us to reinstate tuition remission. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome and are grateful for Dr. Gogue’s support.”
For TSEU, this win is only one step in their long-term endeavor.
“Our ultimate goal is to get legislation that funds tuition remission for all universities,” said Gooding.
TSEU was recently instrumental in helping UH graduate workers receive school funding for health benefits. Since then, approximately 40 UH staff members have joined the union, bringing the number of union staff members at UH to 300.
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