As members will be aware, the university is proposing to introduce a new policy on audio-video recording  (lecture capture) and has consulted UCU on its contents. Many thanks to those members who responded to our request for feedback: you can find a summary of feedback here. As you can see, a range of views were expressed and the feedback was really helpful to help us understand the wider implications of the policy changes and the attitudes of members towards it. Many thanks also to those who attended our General Meeting on 12th May. We took all the feedback we received, the motion that was passed at the General Meeting along with advice from national head office, and compiled a document to send to the university – you will probably need to read in alongside the original proposed draft. Broadly speaking, our position is that we support drives towards inclusive education and particularly appropriate support for disabled students, and we recognise that many staff consider lecture capture to be a useful part of their pedagogy. However, we have significant concerns about the misuse of lecture capture for performance management or for replacing staff, and we know that many staff have pedagogic … continue reading

Summary of informal member feedback on the senior management proposed changes to the lecture capture policy The general policy on recording and the loss of the automatic right to opt out Significant unease about new point 6: using lecture capture material for performance management. This was by far the most common point made in this section. The caveat ‘routinely’ does not reassure staff and the belief that they are under surveillance through lecture capture is making staff far less comfortable with being recorded. A concern frequently raised is that of student complaints that are unreasonable and/or politically motivated, and the implications for academic freedom. Staff warn that this provision could have an inhibiting effect, making them more likely to lecture from a script and less likely to teach in a more interactive, relaxed and personal manner There is some concern about bullet point 5 and the ability to make recordings available outside of the learning and teaching context in which they were made. This causes anxiety about using captured lectures inappropriately, to replace absent staff, striking staff or staff who have left. Staff believe that lectures are and should be captured for the purpose of teaching a particular course of … continue reading