Dear subscriber
Welcome to the first UCU Commons newsletter, a curated set of links and information about what’s happening in UCU Commons, our union, and our sectors more generally. You can expect this update to land with you every other Wednesday in the first instance, and we welcome any feedback you may have!
In today’s issue:
What UCU Commons have been doing
Mark Pendleton (UK-elected representative (HE) to UCU’s National Executive Committee) is bringing this discussion paper to the meeting of the Higher Education Committee (HEC) this Friday 10 October on how we might organise better by looking at what we share in common with the university sector in Australia. Mark says: “We need more thoughtful discussion in UCU in order to make informed decisions about how best to address the crises confronting post-16 education. This year, UCU Commons members will be bringing more reports and discussion papers to NEC and its subcommittees with the aim of fostering just that. Let us know if there are key issues you think should be a focus for discussion at NEC and more widely in our union.”
Jo Edge (Representative of Women Members (HE) on NEC) has written a blog on the dire situation at Goldsmiths, which culminated this week in the news that Frances Corner would be stepping down immediately as Vice Chancellor after overseeing several years of brutal cuts and redundancies. Jo, who studied at Goldsmiths as an undergraduate, reflects on her experience of coming back to the institution 17 years later as an hourly-paid lecturer, and what she hopes the institution has learned from Corner’s failed slash and burn approach.
News from UCU
This year each of UCU’s equality groups will have a one-day hybrid conference. The venue will be UCU head office at Carlow Street, London, and online via Zoom. UCU Commons produced this helpful post which gives more information on these conferences, the equality standing committees and how to nominate for positions.
The days of the conferences are outlined below (all from 11:00-16:00):
Friday 14 November: women members’ annual conference
Saturday 15 November: LGBT+ members’ annual conference
Thursday 20 November: disabled members’ annual conference
Friday 21 November: Black members’ annual conference
Friday 5 December: migrant members’ conference
This year’s conferences have the broad theme ‘Organising against division: building inclusive workplaces, resisting reactionary politics’. Register here.
Tilly Fitzmaurice (representative for LGBT+ Members (HE) on UCU’s NEC and Chair of UCU’s Equality Committee) says: “Attending the equalities conference is a great way to participate in UCU’s democracy, as well as meeting like-minded people committed to equality and liberation. The equality standing committees also present an excellent opportunity to apply expertise, whether this is from lived experience, your professional activities or branch work. Many UCU Commons members serve on the equality standing committees, and would be very happy to talk with anyone interested in getting involved”.
In our sectors
Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson announced a levy on international student fees to pay for maintenance grants at Labour’s conference this week. However, these grants will only cover certain subjects (mostly STEM and vocational courses), which leads us to wonder why this Labour government does not think working class students should study Arts and Humanities. Furthermore, this sort of trade-off pits working class British students against their migrant peers, which could be seen as stoking division at a time when unity is more essential than anything. We do not believe this sort of tinkering around the edges is any sort of solution to the problem of student finance, and as Bijan Parsia (Representative of Disabled Members (HE) to NEC) says: “This is a further, worrisome, sign that the Government does not have plan for Higher Education, but merely a series of random policies crafted for a nominal political effect and no regard for the obvious negative consequences”.
Times Higher Education asks, Where now for the REF? Matt Barnard, recently elected UK-wide NEC Representative (HE), remarks: “This collection of five short pieces gives an informed spread of views on what is at stake in shaping REF 2029. In particular, John Cater’s piece gives a sharp warning of the risks posed to post-1992 institutions by any two-track system. As the Government inches towards showing its hand on HE reform, I remain deeply concerned at the appetite for shutting out so-called ‘teaching institutions’ from their fair share of funding”.
We hope you have enjoyed this round up. Want to get involved? You can join UCU Commons and work with us towards a more effective union for post-16 education here.
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