An email from University administration announcing an unexpected change to stipend pay schedules has left many graduate student-workers reeling. As stipend payment timing is modified to align with normal payroll distribution, many students will begin the fall term with less funds than they had prepared for, especially given the short notice.
Many of the affected graduate students are worried that with spaced-out payments, they will be unable to afford early semester expenses. Calculations done by the Student Workers of Columbia, the union formerly known as the Graduate Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers, estimate that based on the New York City cost of living, students relying on the old stipend timing will end up in debt by the end of September.