Hot topics of the last week: let's break them down

 Segel, the scholarships and the new representatives

On June 22nd Segel held the annual assembly in order to check out the past annual management and activities, but also to elect various representatives (possibly one per each faculty) who will deal with the incoming Segel activities. This is important, so that there are people who can represent us as Scholars and assure our freedom and dignity inside the academia.

Among the many (I will update this info once there will be official statements), Elinor and Valentina have been elected. This is positive for the international community and the campaign that the post docs are carrying on to obtain more visibility from the university.

Later on,  there was a discussion on the demand to raise the subsistence scholarships by more than 5%, since inflation is continuing to grow. In fact, previously, TAU proposed to raise the scholarships of all the TAU Scholars (Post-Docs included) of 5%. Unfortunately, the CPI is still increasing and some prediction made by the Segel members has calculated the CPI to be around 10% by the end of the 2023. This means that the Scholarship increase promised by the university won't be enough. Actually, we risk to lose money, if we think of how we will pay rent, bills and items in the next months.

The point of the discussion was to agree on a percentage that can be reasonable for the scholarship recipients and the University. Considering that the general salary increase to fight the inflation in Israel is around 12.5%, it is reasonable that the increase we need should be around 10-12%. In the next weeks, there will be talks to advance this demand. Keep an eye on this!!! Updates soon.

Meanwhile, Segel is investigating on the general conditions of the Scholars in Israel. From their email (21.06.23): 

...There is little information about levels of scholarships, conditions and rights of scholarship recipients both in Tel Aviv University and in other universities. This information is necessary to protect our rights and fight back if they are breached. 

We created a survey to compare subsistence scholarships (excluding external scholarships) on a national level for this very reason. Please answer the attached survey, and share it with scholarship recipients from other universities. The survey is anonymous, and its results will be published publicly."

If you want to help us being more effective in this campaign for the scholarships, you might want to fill this Form, and share it with your friends in TAU and also in the other University.  

The post doc campaign is coming to an important point

In these weeks, at least 20 people contributed to write down the demands and the body of the letter we want to send out to the TAU administration and to the Vice president of the research in TAU.

In particular, in the next 1-2 weeks, we will try to formalize the letter and to schedule a meeting with the Vice president.

The letter has been reviewed by senior Segel members, and we have been granted their support. We intend to proceed by get the signatures of as many post docs as possible, while maintaining their anonymity. To do so, we thought of printing a paper letter with plenty of space where single people can sign with the pen and writing instead of their names "I Agree". In this manner, the signatures will be authentic and the identity of the signatures will be protected. The target is to send out the letter as soon as possible, and to forward it also to the Vice president of the research.

Nevertheless, it is important that the campaign remains separated from any sort of  official "Union" body in this moment. In fact, the Vice president has already stated that he won't meet with any association or union, but he is more than welcoming to the post docs.

Although this could be challenging and scary, this is also the right occasion to try making our voices heard. This discussion, if it takes place, will help not only the post docs but a bigger basin of people. Creating a conversation with the higher bodies of TAU is essential for any future interaction. 

Therefore, we are looking for 1-2 people (Necessarily Post docs) who want to come with Valentina to discuss with the Vice president. Please, support this action, it is the most critical one for the things to be changed.

The Tenants' committee is planning the demands to present to the University and started its social campaign

In the next weeks, the campaign to raise the concerns of the living conditions of the Dorms tenants will lead to the meeting with some TAU representatives where we can interact and present our demands.

On the 04.07 there will be an important meeting between the Student's Union (Agudat HaStudentim) and the university regarding changes to the dorms' terms and rules.

For now, we are working on formulating the demands that we want to submit on that occasion. 

If you want to add your opinion in an anonymous way, please fill this FORM as soon as possible! Your contribution will help us understanding what are the most challenging situations.

Meanwhile, some of us opened a FB page called "Dorm Confessions", where people post anonymously the various issues and problem they have. The fun part? Everybody can see the "problems", but nobody can see who experiences them. Check this out: LINK

In order to stay updated, you can join this WA group chat (only admin can post) : https://chat.whatsapp.com/Jdfjysd0BTlKhW7D4CgeD5

Upcoming Events On Campus proposed by The Lowy International School in TAU, from June 25th to 29th.

On MONDAY 26th of June

Registration here for the meeting with the Entrepreneur, 

and registration here for the movie screen. The movie will be in Spanish with English subtitles.

If you are excited about entrepreneurship and business, on WEDNESDAY June 28th there will be another appointment, with Mattel CEO. Yes, we talk about Mattel, the business that designed the mythical Barbie doll. Registration here.

Also, on WEDNESDAY June 28th, there will be a visit to Alexander Brewery, an Israeli beer production facility. Since this event was designed for the international summer programs, the deadline posted here is the 19th. I assume they elongated it, so try your luck by registering here, or try to reach out the madrichim to see whether there is one spot left for you.