H-1448              _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 915

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Representatives Wineberry, Jacobsen, Belcher, Prince, Locke, Unsoeld, Heavey, Grimm, Appelwick, Nelson, K. Wilson, Silver, Allen, May, Jesernig, R. King and P. King

Read first time 2/13/87 and referred to Committee on Higher Education.

AN ACT Relating to teaching assistants and research associates; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature finds that teaching assistants and research associates provide an invaluable service to the faculty, staff, and undergraduate students at the state's four-year universities.  At the University of Washington, teaching assistants are responsible for twenty-eight percent of undergraduate instruction.  These outstanding students help set high academic standards for graduate programs and provide valuable assistance for research projects.  Working closely with research associates and teaching assistants, college and university faculty are able to increase their own productivity and maintain or renew their enthusiasm for their scholarly studies.

          Competition among institutions is intense for these exceptional scholars, yet the net stipends offered them by state institutions of higher education can be almost eight hundred  dollars per year less than the average stipends offered by peer institutions.  During the 1987-89 biennium, the legislature intends to provide an equitable compensation package for these students by increasing their stipends by the same percentage that faculty salaries are increased.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     There is hereby appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1989, the sum of $4,939,886 or so much thereof as may be necessary from the general fund for increasing salaries for teaching assistants at the state and regional universities as follows:  $2,768,817 to the University of Washington; $1,931,803 to Washington State University; $55,875 to Eastern Washington University; $61,684 to Central Washington University; and $121,707 to Western Washington University.