Graduate Student Action Network

The Graduate Student Action Network (GSAN, @GradAction on Twitter) is a growing network of graduate students at over 50 schools in 30 states, started in June 2022 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson. The core function of GSAN is to facilitate communication and resource/knowledge sharing between student leaders and advocates at schools across the U.S. This entails: 

• Maintaining a mailing list of member contact info—viewable by GSAN leaders only—and using it to facilitate connections between students at different schools looking to collaborate, seeking organizing advice, or looking for info for e.g. bargaining purposes, by their request.

• Maintaining a Google Drive folder of bargaining slides and reports used by grad student councils and union bargaining teams in recent years.

• Maintaining and moderating the GSAN Discord server where network members can ask questions or share advice about union organizing, campus activism, and advocacy. 

• Building a public database of PhD program benefits, which we hope to update every year, to reduce redundant efforts by grad leaders across our institutions, to show what kinds of benefits are possible, and to convince more students to fight for better conditions.

In the past, we have also helped organize major campaigns like the Oct 6, 2022 Day of Action (local news coverage, national news coverage) and events like the Feb 25, 2023 Virtual Town Hall on Disability Justice in Higher Ed with partners like the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) and the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS). However, we do not run any recurring/annual events or campaigns—GSAN initiatives are organized democratically, on a case-by-case basis, by our members and leadership, according to their capacity and engagement.  

Any student is welcome to join GSAN using the join button below. After signing up, you will be invited to join our Discord server, attend our quarterly Zoom meetings, access our collection of example bargaining materials (slides, reports), and vote in our collective decision-making processes (one person, one vote).