Update on SWC Negotiations and Student Employee Compensation and Stipend Increases
Dear Colleagues,
As we approach a new academic year, I want to update you on the University’s contract negotiations with the Student Workers of Columbia union (SWC) and share the news of an increase we are announcing to Student Officer compensation and PhD support for the coming year. Now nearly 17 months into negotiations — and more than a year after SWC’s contract with the University expired — the union has not prioritized meaningful progress on basic employment issues.
While I can report incremental movement on topics that would be seen as typical of other successor contracts, we remain far apart on virtually all major elements of a labor agreement. Although it has toned down some of its most extreme demands, SWC continues to maintain that the Framework Agreement no longer applies and persists in pressing for a decision-making role in academic and operational spheres that are and must remain within the faculty and the institution’s exclusive control. For example, SWC has maintained its demand that student employees have the right to determine, in the same manner afforded to faculty, how to carry out their assigned instructional and research duties. Further, any perceived attempts to limit student employee discretion would be subject to the grievance process and third-party arbitration under the contract.
These fundamental obstacles have impeded meaningful discussion of core employment matters like compensation, where, again, the union’s economic demands remain far out of line with what is available to other employees at Columbia and at peer universities. SWC’s latest demand would increase minimum compensation for all PhD students for academic year 2026-2027 by 62% for 12-month appointments and 84% for 9-month appointments over the rates they received during the last academic year.
In March, I called on SWC to join us in a serious attempt to mend this bargaining process so that we could quickly conclude a strong, fair new contract that would benefit all our student employees. The University has tried to engage in that effort throughout the past spring and summer. SWC has not shown the requisite urgency to accomplish what we need to achieve together.
Despite these challenges, Columbia remains committed to supporting our PhD students, for whom teaching and research appointments are an integral part of their educational training, as well as other Student Officers, even in the face of the union’s delay. Consequently, as announced below, the University will again implement a 3% increase in minimum support rates for all PhD students, both on and off Student Officer appointments, effective September 1, 2026. In addition, the University will implement a 3% increase in compensation for all other students holding Student Officer teaching or research appointments, effective September 1, 2026. This 3% increase matches the 3% increase the University implemented last October 2025.
Additional information regarding negotiations is available under the Current Negotiations tab on the Student Benefits website.
We recognize that these protracted negotiations create uncertainty that touches your classrooms, labs, research, and advising relationships. The University’s goal remains reaching a fair, competitive, and sustainable successor agreement. We hope that SWC will join us soon as a willing partner in advancing that objective. In the meantime, we will continue to act in ways that reflect Columbia’s dedication to its student employees, and to you, their faculty mentors and supervisors.
Sincerely,
Amy Hungerford
Executive Vice President of Arts and Sciences
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Notice on Compensation and Stipend Increases
August 25, 2026
Dear Students,
Since March 2025, the University has been engaged with the Student Workers of Columbia union (SWC) in negotiations over a successor collective bargaining agreement to follow the contract that expired on June 30, 2025. As we have continued to meet with SWC over the last academic year and this summer, the union has focused much of our time on issues unrelated to the terms of employment, rather than concentrating on compensation and other basic contract subjects. While Columbia remains dedicated to reaching a long-term agreement, our progress over the last year and a half toward that goal has been limited, and we remain far apart on the core issues of a labor agreement.
Regardless, Columbia remains committed to supporting our PhD students — for whom appointments as Student Officers of Instruction and Research are an integral part of their educational training — and Master’s, undergraduate, and other students who also hold instructional and research appointments. Accordingly, the University will again implement a 3% increase in minimum support rates for all PhD students, both on and off Student Officer appointments, effective September 1, 2026. In addition, the University will implement a 3% increase in compensation for all other students holding Student Officer teaching or research appointments, effective September 1, 2026.
This 3% increase matches the 3% increase the University implemented last October 2025, reflecting the institution’s ongoing dedication to supporting its PhD students and Student Officers, and recognizing the important role they play within our academic community.
We remain hopeful that SWC will shift its focus to bargaining on critical employment matters. With that core focus on both sides, we could quickly reach a strong agreement that would materially benefit every student employee at Columbia.
Additional information regarding negotiations is available under the Current Negotiations tab on the Student Benefits website.
Thank you for everything you do to support our community and help make Columbia the world-class institution that it is.
Sincerely,
Amy Hungerford
Executive Vice President of Arts and Sciences
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences