Category Archives: Opposing privatisation

Decisions of general meeting 8 December 2020

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Appointments to committee Equality officer: Lorraine Youds Anti-casualisation officers: Xanthe Whittaker and Joanne Armitage (role share) Committee member (lead on climate and the ecological emergency): Jennifer Fletcher The following motions were agreed: Motion 1: opposing redundancies at Leeds University Leeds UCU: Notes: Faculty of Biological Sciences management communication which hinted at compulsory redundancies if not ‘enough’ staff leave through the voluntary redundancy scheme. that UCU branches (eg. Heriot Watt, Brighton, Northumbria Universities) have recently won ballots for industrial action, despite the obstacles to campaigning during Covid-19 restrictions. Re-affirms our opposition to all redundancies. urges all members to sign the Leeds UCU petition opposing the ‘voluntary’ redundancies in the Faculty of Biological Sciences and the School of Medicine. agrees to: demand a commitment from management that no compulsory redundancies will be proposed or made in FBS or SoM. call a dispute if management will not rule out compulsory redundancies. trigger the steps for an industrial action ballot if management pursues compulsory redundancies. Motion amended as above text and carried without opposition. Motion 2: Response to Funding Extensions for PGRs The Leeds UCU Branch notes that: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted many post-graduate research students (PGRs) because of their reduced ability … continue reading

Our response to the HE Green Paper

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

University of Leeds UCU agree with the stated objectives of the Green Paper: to provide the highest quality of education for our students, empowering them in the process, and ensure that a university education can be enjoyed by everyone who is able to benefit from it. We do not agree however that the TEF is a means of achieving these objectives. Nowhere in the documentation is ‘excellence’ defined, and this plainly undermines the arguments made about achieving it. The TEF will add another layer of bureaucracy onto an already over‐burdened profession, making excellent teaching harder to achieve. We do not believe that the metrics being proposed represent adequate proxies for teaching excellence. It is also self-evident that the attempt to define sector‐wide metrics could not adequately recognise the differences between disciplines in pedagogic, delivery or assessment terms. The Green Paper argues that information about key elements of the educational experience either does not exist or is not widely available to applicants, and therefore cannot assist students in making informed decisions about their choice of university. We do not recognise this as based in fact. There will be an increased administrative burden while universities accommodate the new requirements and change their … continue reading

Open meeting: government green paper of Higher Education

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Join us for a discussion about the government’s recent Green Paper on Higher Education, including the effects of opening up universities to private providers, new forms of measurement for ‘teaching excellence’ as well as research, raising fees, deregulation, attacks on local statutes and academic freedom … and OUR RESPONSE TO IT. Monday 11 January, 5pm–6.30pm Workshop Theatre Studio 1, University of Leeds Speakers: Liz Lawrence, National President of UCU, on the implications of a rapid growth in the number of private for-profit providers of higher education Professor Paul Kleiman, senior consultant (Higher Education) at Ciel Associates, on the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) The meeting is open to all staff and students of all local HE institutions. Link to the government consultation paper and questions: gov.uk/government/consultations/higher-education-teaching-excellence-social-mobility-and-student-choice Update: you may be interested in the powerpoint presentation given by UCU national president Liz Lawrence at that meeting: The Green Paper on HE and Privatisation

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