#nsrt issues

[voicesfromthepicket]

Xian, Physics PhD Student, UC Riverside

"I am an 8th-year Ph.D. candidate in Physics at UCR. I switched to a new research group in my 5th year, so I extended my Ph.D program completion time. Currently, UC allows the NRST exemption for only 9 quarters after candidacy. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was temporarily extended to 12 quarters, but I still needed more time. I have been paying NRST myself every quarter since the winter of 2022. Before January 2022, I was hired as a 49% GSR. Per UC policy, the PI or the department needs to cover a student's tuition fully if the student is hired at 45% and above, but they didn't want to do this. So they hired me at 44% percent since January 2022, so I would still have to pay the NRST myself. That's $5,034 dollars a quarter. I still need two more quarters to graduate. NRST is a heavy financial burden for me. Many other international students also worry about it because a Ph.D. typically takes longer than the normative six year time frame. They will have to pay the NRST if they need to extend their time in their Ph.D. programs.

International students urgently need a proposal for an NRST waiver during the entire Ph.D. program. UC may want to transfer this burden to the PIs or the department like we are seeing now. Then senior students like me may be hired at a lower percentage or not be offered a TA position by the department so they won't have to pay our raised tuition, which makes the situation even worse. International students contribute the same state tax to California as others. NRST is discrimination against us. This is the conflict between international students and UC. The UC can't fool us and claim this conflict comes from individual PIs or the departments. The union's mediator might have said UC would not move on the NRST waiver. However, if the regents of UC can extend the waiver during the pandemic, they can extend it now. International students should vote NO to the tentative agreement, or we send a signal that international students are ready to give up on our core benefits.