Category Archives: Consultations and negotiations

Heads of School recruitment and the spurious use of ‘equality and inclusion’

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Many of you have expressed your discontent at the recent blanket policy of Head of School positions automatically going out to external advertisement, and in some cases the use of headhunters in the recruitment process. The committee shares these concerns and the strength of feeling against this policy. Our wider opposition to this policy and motions passed by the branch on the issue are laid out here. In this email, we wish to draw attention to a particularly pernicious element of management’s justification for the imposition of this policy: the spurious deployment of the equality and inclusion agenda. In negotiations on this issue representatives of the university executive group have argued that the blanket policy of external recruitment was justified because it would bring about a greater diversity in senior management. While in some specific areas of the university the external recruitment of Heads of Schools may have led to greater diversity in the senior management team, the notion that a blanket policy will achieve this aim is not credible. In many disciplines the wider pool of likely candidates within the sector is highly skewed towards white men. In addition, in some schools external recruitment represents a marked change in … continue reading

Newsletter – summer 2019

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University of Leeds University & College Union USS Pensions There seems to be no comfortable end in sight for the USS dispute. USS have proposed three options as solutions to the ongoing valuation, all of which mean members and employers paying more, and none of which implement the Joint Expert Panel’s recommendations. Employers prefer option 3 which would increase member contributions to 9.6% with possible imposed additional increases after later valuations. It has recently been revealed, after whistleblowing from a USS trustee, that USS misled employers and members about the 2018 valuation, claiming wrongly that The Pensions Regulator had said the JEP recommendations would be too risky. UCU believes we can’t trust these people any longer, has called for the resignation of USS CEO Bill Galvin, and is exploring the possibility of legal action against the USS Trustee Board. We reject any members’ contribution increases, we call on UUK to pick up any imposed extra costs, and we plan to ballot on industrial action in September if they do not agree. See leedsucu.org.uk/pensions What’s happening on pay? 2019 pay negotiations with the employers began in early May and the Universities & Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) offered 1.8% (increased to 3.65% … continue reading

Discussion boards for in-module feedback

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You may have seen on Campusweb the announcement of the introduction, in 2019/20, of discussion boards within modules in Minerva to provide in-course feedback – you can find the announcement here: https://www.leeds.ac.uk/forstaff/news/article/6714/student_voice_enhancing_learning_and_teaching It’s particularly important to emphasise that this initiative is about the provision of feedback as to the running of the course and the student experience, not for questions about module content (which I know many of us already use Minerva discussion boards for, sometimes making good use of anonymity).  UCU was not consulted on this. We have a number of concerns which we have raised with University management.  1. Understanding how a module is going from a student point of view is crucial. There are many ways of doing this, and colleagues around the university will have their own methods, from mid-module feedback forms, to focus groups, to in-class methods, to discussion boards (anonymous and otherwise). The appropriate mechanism will vary from discipline to discipline and according to class size and learning approach, and is a core issue of pedagogy, not an administrative add-on. We understand that this discussion board method has been piloted but we have not been told anything about how and where that pilot was … continue reading

2 April: emergency general meeting on the REF code of practice

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Tuesday 2 April 2-3pm, Michael Sadler LG 19 We need members’ views on the draft Code of Practice for REF 2021 (CoP) that the university released for consultation yesterday. We are looking to build on the wealth of experience and expertise in our membership to inform the branch’s position. To this end, we have put together a very short survey that can be completed [here]. Alternatively, you can email your comments to us directly at ucu@leeds.ac.uk.  All thoughts, comments and concerns are welcome. We are particularly keen to receive your views and experiences relating to:  how preparations for REF 2021 interact with Annual Academic Meetings (AAM) and the Staff Review and Development Scheme (SRDS) [CoP para 19]; the process for identifying staff with significant responsibility for research and staff who are engaged in independent research [CoP para 35-41]the process for appealing these decisions [CoP para 55-60]; and the process for selecting outputs [CoP para 76-84]. Alongside providing your feedback to UCU, we also encourage members to engage with the university’s consultation process by either emailing leedsref@leeds.ac.uk, or by attending one of the three drop-in sessions organised by University Management, details of which can be found [here]. We are holding a Leeds UCU Emergency General Meeting on 2 April, at 2pm, in Michael Sadler LG 19 to discuss the Code … continue reading

Unions improve new adverse weather policy

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The university has revised its new policy for adverse weather conditions following consultation with trade unions. UCU, Unison and Unite were consulted on the draft policy, which all three unions agreed over-emphasised the importance of keeping the university running over the safety of staff. University senior management have made numerous changes to the policy, which now much better emphasises that staff should not risk their safety or health to get to work. The policy is now on the university website: http://hr.leeds.ac.uk/info/29/leave_other_leave/329/managing_staff_affected_by_adverse_weather_and_disruptions_to_public_transport This isn’t an agreed policy, but the university has made significant improvements at our request. UCU’s advice, as usual, is to go into work if you can but don’t be pressured to if you can’t. … continue reading