Since announcing their intention to strike as student employees starting March 10, University of the Virgin Islands master’s students Joshua Soll and Zoe Price have had an initial meeting with UVI President Safiya George and key financial department staff.
The conversation was a step forward, with university officials pledging to fix the long-standing issue of delayed payments, but until they see proof that payments are processed on time and that transparency improves, they say the strike will continue.
Soll and Price have been leading the movement for about two weeks now, sharing that for years UVI student employees have faced inconsistent and delayed paychecks, tuition reimbursements, and travel stipends. Some students have waited weeks, months, or even more than a year for money that was promised to them, they said.
“Many are owed thousands of dollars, and for some, the delays have had serious consequences,” according to the students’ public petition. “One student lost their apartment and was forced to leave the island. Another was misclassified as a part-time student, triggering an early repayment demand for their federal student loans. Others have had to borrow money from faculty members just to stay afloat.”
The problem, Price and Soll say, stems from — among other things — a severely understaffed financial department and a complex, inefficient approval process at the university that creates a backlog of payments.
Soll and Price say they have exhausted all internal avenues to resolve the issue, including repeated outreach to financial staff and administrators. Frustrated by the lack of progress, they are demanding immediate payment of all outstanding stipends and reimbursements, a complete overhaul of the payment system, and student representation in financial discussions. They are also calling for a reclassification of students receiving stipends, who are currently labeled as “independent contractors” rather than school employees — making them ineligible for health insurance benefits.
While the meeting with UVI leadership has brought some hope for change, the students are refusing to back down until they see real action.
“While we are hopeful for effective and long-term change, we remain skeptical that this issue will come to a conclusion until we see proof that our already promised payments and reimbursements will be on time every time and that communication and transparency between the financial departments and students have increased,” Soll said. “We plan to move forward with the strike and public announcement of the financial challenges we face as a result of the university.”
