STIPEND & COPAY POLICY CHANGES
Over the past year, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tech Goes Home has adapted our policies and programming to better meet the urgent needs of our learners, instructors, and communities. Now, as we look ahead to the longer-term recovery from COVID-19 and the future of TGH, we are making carefully thought out changes to our policies and approaches.
We are moving forward with two important policy updates:
Update 1: TGH graduates will continue to earn a device and internet at no cost.
During the pandemic, TGH began providing both a digital device and one year of high-quality internet free of charge to every learner who needed them. Moving forward, TGH will continue providing devices and internet at no cost as part of our programming.
Update 2: Instructor and course assistant stipends will be discontinued effective January 1, 2022
During the pandemic - in recognition of the extraordinary demands placed on our instructors - TGH expanded financial stipends to instructors teaching in all programs. After extensive conversations with instructors, an internal review, and consultation with external experts about how best to support learners and instructors going forward, we have elected to discontinue all instructor and course assistant stipends effective January 1, 2022.
This decision will allow us to direct more resources to expanding our programming and providing critical tools for learners, instructors, and course assistants, including:
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Ensuring that every TGH graduate can continue to earn a device and internet at no cost to them;
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Expanding our professional development programs for instructors and course assistants;
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Expanding Tech Goes Home’s courses to reach more learners and more communities;
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Building a Course Assistant Volunteer program so instructors can have community support in their courses; and
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Developing recognition programs for instructors and course assistants.
Our instructors and course assistants remain at the absolute heart of TGH’s mission. We are so grateful for the time they invest and the lengths they go to in order to serve their learners. These updates will allow us to support them more intentionally and sustainably, while also ensuring that even more learners are able to participate fully in TGH programs and gain the access and skills they need to use telehealth, work from home, participate in school, connect with loved ones, and more online.
We are profoundly grateful for the tireless efforts of our learners, instructors, staff, community partners, volunteers, and learners during the past year-plus. COVID-19 revealed the depth of digital inequity to an unprecedented degree, and we’re more committed than ever to strengthening TGH as an organization, so that we can better support our communities and connect more learners with digital devices, internet, and critical skills training.
As always, we welcome your feedback so please do not hesitate to reach out to us with ideas on how we can continue to best support TGH partnerships. You may submit any inquiries or feedback to program@techgoeshome.org.