Category: motions

The following motion was passed at the Wednesday 3rd February branch meeting.

This meeting notes:

• In separate surveys 60% of University of Nottingham UCU members reported they felt unsafe undertaking work on campus, and 72% identified current workloads as unsustainable.

This union branch believes:

• That the UK’s awful record in relation to Covid-19 deaths is directly attributable to the government’s mishandling of the pandemic. This indecisive ‘too little, too late’ approach has not only caused unnecessary deaths but has contributed to a continuous state of chaos and uncertainty.
• That UK death rates are so high partly as a consequence of a second wave which the higher education sector made its own disastrous contribution to by prioritising a return to campus in September, despite warnings of the consequences.
• That the repeated failure of University management to respond proactively to the crisis has resulted in increased workloads and intolerable pressure, and that the continuing lack of clarity about plans for teaching for the remainder of the academic year is now adding to already dangerous levels of anxiety and stress and negates the possibility of planning appropriate mitigations

Therefore, this meeting resolves:

• to urge the University of Nottingham to declare that all, but essential activities will remain online for the remainder of the academic year, or until infection rates are minimal. Making this decision now will allow staff to plan work adequately and avoid needless uncertainty and stress.

The following motion was passed at the Wednesday 3rd February branch meeting.

This meeting notes:

• the lack of leadership from the University of Nottingham in publicly lobbying the government for a sector wide deal.

This union branch believes:

• Whilst other sectors have had success in openly challenging Government to step in and support them, the only defence of HE has come from unions, whilst UUK has remained mute. Financial losses incurred by universities due to the pandemic should not be borne by staff who have been working under immense pressure to continue to deliver high quality education to our students.
• that without a sector wide deal financial losses will be unsustainable and the damage to the sector irreversible.

Therefore, this meeting resolves:

• to urge the University of Nottingham to use its weight within UUK and the Russell Group to publicly lobby the UK Government to provide adequate financial support.

The following motion was passed at the Wednesday 14th October branch meeting.

Over the past few months, University of Nottingham staff have been consistently reassured by senior management that the question of “face to face” (f2f) teaching would be handled in a flexible and safe manner. However, facts on the ground have contradicted this. ​Many schools across the University report that they are still being forced by senior management to push staff into f2fteaching against their wishes​. The Motion passed by the Sept general meeting sought to address this by recognizing management’s assurance that no member of staff would be “compelled” to teach f2f.It has since become apparent this assurance has not been kept by management, who have refused to clarify what this phrasing actually means. This ambiguity has resulted in individual members of staff having to negotiate their way out of f2f with their line managers. Consequently, many staff continue to feel they are being compelled to deliver f2f teaching.

Continue reading “Motion on online teaching as default during pandemic”

The following motion was passed at the Wednesday 14th October branch meeting.

This branch notes the high number of UoN students currently required to isolate due to Covid infections or exposure. It also notes the unacceptable consequences this is having for our student community, as reported here and here, as well as the huge reputational damage this is doing to the HE sector.

In the immediate term, it is apparent that students have in many cases been poorly treated by a management that seems to have devoted its efforts to getting things back to normal, and has subsequently been wrong-footed by the reality that things are not. Students have variously been left without support, virtually imprisoned, on the receiving end of communications completely lacking in compassion or understanding, blamed for simply pursuing the “student experience” they were repeatedly promised and, alongside frontline staff, been left scrambling for relevant information.

Continue reading “Covid Impacts on UoN Student Community”