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Notice of General Meeting 20th November 2024 1-2pm.

The University of Nottingham UCU Branch is calling a General Meeting on Wednesday 20 November,  1-2pm on Zoom.*

The meeting agenda is as follows:

  1. Update on the Alternate Financial Strategy 2.0 (AFS2) [circulated to members on 4th November] and the University’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP).
  2. Motion on the American and Canadian Studies (ACS) programme 
  3. Motion on Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) pledge

The motions will be circulated to members by email prior to the meeting along with a Zoom link for the meeting.

*Original notice was circulated to members by email on 6th November.

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Wollaton Hall parkrun, in memory of Agnes Flues

On Saturday 9 November 2024, colleagues and friends of Agnes Flues were joined by her partner Manuel Peña Prieto at Wollaton Hall parkrun to celebrate her life and social justice, within UCU and beyond.

Photo credit Chris Tregnza https://tregenza.com/ucu-uon-parkrun-for-agnes/

Agnes was a regular runner, and Wollaton was her local parkrun. We were honoured that Manuel could join us and see our show of love and respect for Agnes.

Manuel leading the way with a UCU flag in hand – Photo credit Chris Tregnza https://tregenza.com/ucu-uon-parkrun-for-agnes/

Agnes was a tireless activist taking a number of roles on the UoN UCU branch committee, as well as having been elected to UCU’s National Executive Committee. In memory of all that she did, UoN UCU hope to gather in future years at Wollaton Hall parkrun on the nearest Saturday to her birthday. We therefore invited runners and their supporters to contribute to branch fundraising, which remains open.

A post-run collection – Manuel Peña Prieto photo credit

Participants and supporters wore UCU colours (pink and purple) and we also had a number of handheld UCU flags that caught the attention of fellow parkrun participants (642 finishers). The results are available on the Wollaton Hall parkrun website.

Further images from the day can be seen on Chris Tregnza’s website.

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UCU UoN, Unite and UNISON sign a new Recognition Agreement with University of Nottingham

On 24th October UCU UoN President Lopa Leach represented UCU UoN at the signing of a new joint recognition agreement between the University of Nottingham, represented by Vice Chancellor Shearer West, and all three campus unions, with Vicki Morris representing UNISON and Declan Brady representing Unite.

The full agreement can be read below.

Signed-Recognition-Agreement-for-UoN-UK-and-its-Campus-Trades-Unions-UCU-UNISON-and-Unite-23.10.24

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What University? The HE crisis and what we can do

UoN UCU TEACH-IN

Wednesday, 13 November, 2:30-5:30pm plus pub drinks after

Room E07 Monica Partridge Building, University Park Campus

Higher Education in the UK is in crisis, as is our own University. There is no shortage of diagnoses and prescriptions for how to resolve the impasse: higher tuition fees, ‘leaner’ institutions, amalgamated university ‘trusts’, less humanities and more STEM, etc. Parsing the options can be overwhelming—and disheartening. Many imply a future of lower quality and higher cost education for students amidst deteriorating work conditions for staff. 

What are the alternatives, and how do we organise for them? To help us better understand the current situation, as well as possible future directions for HE, the UoN UCU branch is hosting an afternoon Teach-in. All students and staff are welcome. The plan is as follows. 

2:30-4:00pm – Panel discussion – What is the crisis? What can be done? 

This panel, chaired by our branch President, Lopa Leach, brings together speakers with a range of perspectives on: the very real challenges facing HE and UoN more specifically; varied reform options (plus trade-offs); and the wider political context influencing likely reform outcomes.  

  • Howard Stevenson – Long-time education researcher and union organiser, most recently co-author of Harnessing the Power of Post-Compulsory Education, Howard will reflect on his own analysis of the HE crisis and organising possibilities across the sector. 
  • Joe Kearsey – A former UoN PGR and current post-doc, long-time anti-casualisation organiser, and current organiser with the University Rank-and-File Day School, Joe will focus on how work in universities is becoming more precarious, and what to do about it.
  • Marta Aloi – A UCU member from the School of Economies with a background researching labour markets, Marta will discuss our efforts as a branch to develop an ‘Alternative Financial Strategy’ for UoN, which we intend to use in negotiations with management.   

4:00-4:30pm – Coffee break and chat

4:30-5:30pm – Organising at UoN – Practical breakout sessions 

This session will begin with three brief presentations from branch committee members and organisers on: (1) UoN finances and alternative financial plans; (2) casualisation at UoN; and (3) workloads at UoN. Participants will then join one of three breakout groups to discuss organising goals and strategy relating to these three themes. We will conclude by coming back together into a full group and sharing our ideas. 

6:00pm till whenever – Drinks at the Johnson Arms