Category: Uncategorized

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Dispute resolution offer

Email sent to members on Friday 26th June 2026. Zoom links omitted. Attachments embedded as links in text.

Dear members

Thank you for all the work you are doing to stop the proposed job losses (700 redundancies in FN2, with CR if they don’t get the VR), course closures,  reduced research time and SSR (one fits all disciplines philosophy). Your efforts are working, both the very effective MAB, and the various conversations you and we are having with local MPS, Councillors, newspapers (Times Higher, Nottingham Post), television (BBC, ITN, Channel 4), radio (BBC Nottingham ) and of course UCU press. These resulted in letters from MPs to VC, Public Statements of concern and  questions raised in Parliament. We do have support of students, anxious about graduating  correctly. 

We went to a dispute resolution meeting on 18 June, where VC/UEB  agreed to look at our proposals and solutions.  Jane has replied, see above. They have organised a second meeting on this. This will be on Wednesday (1 July).  Please peruse the  long letter (and Appendix)  Jane wrote, attached, where she spells out her thoughts, the next steps  in the business case, and asks for MAB to be stopped in time for students to graduate. The branch committee has met today, to discuss this, and we have sent her a response, stating why the concessions detailed were inadequate. We have re-iterated our asks and have sent her our UCU Counterproposal Part 2.  

Before we go in on 1 July, we want your opinion on all this, and on the next steps you wish to take. We want you to come to two meetings : The first is on Monday (29 June), where we can take your opinion on the current offer and valued suggestions to take to the second dispute negotiation meeting scheduled  for the Wednesday morning. At our UCU meeting, we will also take a vote on management’s proposal, either the one outlined in the VC’s letter or an improved version of that.

We have also organised a branch meeting with you straight after the dispute meeting; to relate any proposed changes they offer, take your vote, and discuss the next steps in our dispute. (Please find the Zoom links to both meetings below.)

Do come, let us stop this awful FN2 that will damage our university irreversibly.

In solidarity, sadness, anger and fight-back spirit,

    Lopa, on behalf of branch committee.

PS. The donations from other UCU branches have been brilliant! Amazing Solidarity, we are now legendary! Unfortunately we are also a university fighting back the highest number of redundancies in HE.  I am sure our Treasurer will let you know how much has been amassed in the hardship fund, and how we can increase payouts, etc

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Updated MAB and strike advice

Email sent to members on Monday 22nd June 2026.

Dear members,

Over the last week, the Department Reps network has identified a number of questions and scenarios for members participating in the Marking and Assessment Boycott. Whilst the situation varies across the 28 academic schools, and between courses within a single school, there are some relatively common features to what we are seeing reported. 

This email is an attempt to summarise what is known at this stage of our dispute and the University’s assessment cycle, and provide broad guidance for UoN UCU members in relation to participation in the MAB and/or strike action. It cannot speak to all possible scenarios and as the context at the University changes, it may prove necessary to update this guidance. 

Wider position of the UoN UCU Branch after 15th June marking deadline

    1. Strike action and Action Short of a Strike (ASOS), including the Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB), remain in place until 31st July or until the Branch decides otherwise, for example in response to an acceptable offer from the Vice Chancellor and UEB.
    2. After June 15th, we note clear communications in some Schools that further marks are not required for Registry, including for work still unmarked due to the MAB. 
    3. In other Schools the contingency regulations cannot be universally applied (e.g. due to accreditation requirements) and therefore marking duties have not been withdrawn.
    4. Where marking continues to be required, the MAB should continue. This also applies to moderation of marked work (see item 11). 
    5. Those members who no longer have assessment duties cannot, for the moment, participate in the MAB. In these areas where management has indicated marks are no longer required, deductions for participation in the MAB appear likely to end on June 15th. 
    6. There is an upcoming window from mid-July when students may reject ‘part for whole’ and ‘derived marks’ produced by the Contingency Regulations where no actual mark exists. When students reject such made up marks, members may find they are asked to provide an actual mark. At this stage, members should return to participating in the MAB.
    7. It continues to be an expectation that all members participate in disruptive industrial action that brings management into meaningful negotiations on the terms of our dispute. As some members return to work under ASOS, they must take care to act in solidarity and neither accidentally nor purposefully undermine the industrial action of others.
    8. To summarise, the 15th June deadline covers a significant portion of assessment related work but not all of it. The MAB, wider ASOS and strike authorisation remain in place so that members with marking duties are not obliged to complete this work and continue the disruption that puts pressure on the University to negotiate.
    9. It remains in the Vice Chancellor and UEB’s power to bring this dispute and the disruption from our industrial action to an end.

What does this mean for UCU members?

    1. If member has been explicitly told they have no assessment related work to complete, they can consider their participation in the MAB at an end for the time being. If the status of your assessment related work hasn’t been communicated to you, talk to your UCU Rep. 
    2. Regarding moderation, where actual marks exist members should not provide verification of the marking process by completing the paperwork. However, if asked to complete moderation paperwork for a module where no marking has occurred due to the MAB, members should record that no actual marks exist and submit the paperwork accordingly, ensuring the relevant Exam Boards are formally notified. 
    3. If a member is asked directly about their past or present participation in the MAB, they should answer honestly. Being asked directly includes emails addressed to you specifically. It does not include where the request is one item amongst others in an all-staff email (see specific UCU guidance on this from the branch here and national here). 
    4. As with strike action, no one should declare their future participation as the action has yet to happen, and it may get called off if a deal is reached. 
    5. Members should keep in mind that wider ASOS remains in place (e.g. not covering for absent colleagues, working to hours, full list accessible here) .
    6. If assessment work is allocated to a member or required by a line manager (e.g. moderation activities, or marking work where students rejected a derived or part-for-whole mark), members should refuse on the grounds that they are taking part in ASOS/MAB, and/or return to strike action to prevent being required to work for free. 
    7. Members may remain on strike entirely whilst the authorisation for strike action is in place. 
    8. When members receive their June payslip showing evidence of pay deductions for industrial action (the payslip can be downloaded as a pdf from UniCore), they should apply to the UCU national Fighting Fund in the first instance, then to the local branch solidarity fund (details of how to apply to be shared nearer to payslip publication). 
    9. If you have questions related to the above, speak to your Department Rep. If you do not have a Department Rep, contact the Branch Committee: uonucubranch@gmail.com 

In solidarity,

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Dream job?

Email sent to members on Monday 22nd June 2026.

As part of our campaign to defend jobs and working conditions at the University of Nottingham, we will be sending regular emails, authored by different UCU members, examining key elements of management’s restructuring plans. Today we discuss the enormous toll that management’s restructuring plans and simple incompetence have taken on staff. Feel free to share this post with non-UCU members in your area.

I’ve been employed in my role here for less than a year. So far Nottingham have accidently sacked me, put me at risk of redundancy, and potentially lost my personal data to cybercriminals. 

Just over a year ago I was about to graduate with my PhD and start what I thought was my dream job. I felt so lucky to have quickly secured a permanent academic post at a Russell Group University and was excited for the year ahead. 

Since then, the University of Nottingham have accidently sacked me, put me at risk of redundancy, and potentially lost my personal data to cybercriminals.

Back in September 2025, during the first week of teaching, I received an email telling me that my account was going to be closed that evening, as I was leaving the University. This email arrived shortly before 3pm in the afternoon, just I was heading into a medical appointment. I had no idea what this was about, and as a new member of staff, was somewhat panicked that there may have been an issue with my contract. 

It was not until the next day, when I managed to get hold of HR on the phone, that I learned there had been a mistake in the system, and I had incorrectly been processed as a leaver. I was told that they ‘thought’ they could reverse this, and without it affecting my tax, as ‘fortunately’ we had just entered a new pay cycle. To be fair, at this point the University did confirm with me almost immediately that the leavers process had been reversed, and I was back on my account later that day. However, it was not until several months later that it was confirmed that my tax had not been impacted, and as a new member of staff, the whole ordeal had quite an impact on me. 

Then, on the 12th May of this year, I received an email placing my role at risk of redundancy. I’m still not sure what the pool I have been placed in actually looks like, as the numbers on my letter and the University documents do not match. As with many others placed at risk, this has had a significant impact on my self-worth, sense of security and stability, and my initial sense of pride at working for the University of Nottingham has rapidly waned. It has been incredibly difficult to continue to function, turn up to work, and provide the kind of experience, support and presence of mind that I want to give my students. 

Most recently, on the 10th June, I received an email from the University letting me know that my data had potentially been accessed by cybercriminals the previous day. I am currently enrolled at the University as a student, as well as a staff member, which is why my data was included in the breach. The email informed us that cybercriminals had potentially accessed our contact information, University details, financial information, and personal information. For me, this includes private medical information. The advice provided was to change our passwords and monitor our accounts for suspicious activity. When I attempted to call IT Services to change my passwords (which students cannot do independently) it was not possible to get through. 

This data breach has been even more worrying for me due to security risks in my personal life, with my address needing to be kept confidential. 

Last year I thought I’d secured my dream job, but so far it has felt like one crisis after another. Looking forward to the coming year, I feel more dread than optimism.  

An indebted thank you to, and solidarity with, colleagues from across the University who are currently participating in industrial action at great personal cost. And to those who are not currently out on strike, a reminder to say no to and to continue to resist requests that undermine the action of colleagues who have withdrawn their labour to save our University! 

      On behalf of the Branch Committee

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First Dispute resolution meeting and part 1 of our counterproposal

Email sent to members on Friday 19th June 2026.

Dear members

We had a first dispute resolution meeting with Jane yesterday (18 June 2026).  Disappointingly, Management appeared not to be concerned about students graduating correctly in a timely manner, let alone the effect of the large scale redundancies to the university’s reputation,  the shortened research time,  increased stress and workload, the closures of so many courses (some that speak to the soul of humankind) .  They still appear to be firmly wedded to FN2, despite opposition from so many quarters in UoN. Management has received UCU’s Future Nottingham counterproposal  (see below).  This report, developed by a cross section of UCU members,  demonstrates that there is a credible alternative to compulsory redundancies and course closures. Management has acknowledged that there were aspects of this report that they found interesting and are looking at more closely.  Therefore, we will be meeting them again next week. We hope they will reflect on our discussions and develop something more concrete.  

Do take a look at this, the first part of UCU’s Future Nottingham counterproposal.   https://uonucu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/FN2-counterproposal-part-1.pdf

In particular, the report:

    • Identifies more than £40 million of recurring annual savings and income opportunities, exceeding the savings currently being sought through redundancies.
    • Shows how substantial savings can be achieved through attrition, workforce planning, consultancy reductions, procurement efficiencies and tighter control of discretionary spending.
    • Proposes measures to protect and grow income through recruitment, retention, degree apprenticeships, CPD and other high-margin educational activity.
    • Challenges the University’s assumptions around surplus targets, strategic spending and capital investment, arguing that alternative choices are available.
    • Sets out a more federated model of governance, returning greater decision-making power to Schools and local units.

This is not simply a critique of management’s plans. It is a detailed and financially credible alternative vision for the University, that could end this death spiral. 

Dear members, securing change will require continued collective pressure.  Thank you for standing together through our industrial action. As we move into the next phase of the dispute, it remains vital that we maintain that solidarity and continue to hold the line. This support is vital for our continued discussions with management.

In solidarity,

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Breakfast with Nadia Whittome, MP!

Email sent to members on 18th June 2026.

Dear UCU members,

   There are two forthcoming events related to our current dispute I would like to draw your attention to. First, everybody is invited to attend a breakfast with Nadia Whittome, MP for Nottingham East tomorrow, Friday 19th June at 9am in the Pavilion Café at Lakeside Arts Centre. This gives you the opportunity to raising your concerns directly with an MP, who is sympathetic to our struggle.

   Second, next Wednesday, 24 June from 2 to 4 p.m. we will be holding our second annual lecture in honour of the life of our former President and all-round fighter, Agnes Flues. This year the lecture will be given by another former Branch President, and expert on industrial relations in the education sector, Howard Stevenson. Howard’s talk is entitled “How We Win”.

   The lecture will be hybrid, with in-person attendance in B21 in the School of Physics, and online via Zoom. In either case, book tickets here. The event is an opportunity to remember Agnes’s contribution to our movement and honour her memory by renewing our commitment to the current struggle.

   Finally, with our first dispute resolution meeting with management coming up this afternoon, it remains important to hold the line and continue the MAB in relation to the moderation of module marks as well as derived marks, which may be rejected by students.

Best,