History COGS was formed in the mid-1970s as part of the student governance system at the University of Minnesota. Since the late 1970's it has been enshrined in the constitution of the Graduate School of the University as the official body representing graduate students, at least within the Graduate School structure. It is not, and never has been, a collective bargaining agent. One of the key pieces of the unionization drive was the demand for health insurance as a benefit of employment as a Graduate Assistant. This was arranged by the University Administration around the same time as the unionization drive, and the offer of health in surance without unionization may have been one of the reasons the unionization drive failed.
Health insurance continues to be a driving issue.
It has proven impossible to get the Administration to deliver on a verbal commitment made at the time the was negotiated and waive the student health service fee for fully covered Graduate Assistants. In addition, the GAHP is up for contract renewal in December 1994, and COGS anticipates efforts on the part of the Administration and the Board of Regents to either fold the GAHP into the general Univer sity-offered student health insurance plan, or to eliminate it entirely as a benefit. In the meantime, COGS is working with the Administration to generate additional options for graduate student health care. All rights reserved.