Comms with senior management about returning to campus on 12 April

Further to our email (see below) to the Vice Chancellor on 31 March raising our concerns about returning to campus on 12 April, we received the following response from Roberta Head, HR Director Client Services on 1 April.

To: Southampton UCU Executive Committee,
Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for your note dated 31st March to the Vice-Chancellor relating to the arrangements for return to campus on 12th April. He has asked me to respond as many of these items were dealt with in our joint meeting earlier in the week and we want to ensure that our response is fully informed by our previous discussions with you.

We have been very happy to have ongoing detailed and frequent dialogue with our UCU colleagues on the return to campuses, including at weekly meetings with our Health, Safety and Risk team. We have discussed this at the regular meetings with our Trades Unions led by Richard Middleton including the most recent meeting on Tuesday 30th March . At all of these meetings colleagues have been able to discuss the plans for a safe return to campus and raise issues and concerns for response. This positive engagement has helped us to plan and we believe has provided an opportunity for meaningful consultation.

In addition, we have been clear about our plans for return to teaching on 12th April, and the need to revisit risk assessments, for some weeks. Colleagues have been engaged in planning for the return of students and have been making amendments to risk assessments since the Government announcement. We would always have planned to have students on practical programmes on site on the 12th April, since this became possible after the 8th March. The generic risk assessment for learning and teaching will revert to that which staff engaged with in the autumn term, with the additional enhancements added relating to face coverings which has been shared directly with all students who are returning to campus. We believe that this means that we have planned well in advance.
Whilst we note members’ concerns relating to the percentage of 16-24-year-olds who will have received a vaccine, we remain confident that the risk mitigation measures that we have agreed will keep students and colleagues safe. We continue to offer access to a testing regime, enforce social distancing and have guidance in place on the wearing of face coverings and hygiene. As always our approach will be monitored and reviewed in light of any new information and Government guidance.

I hope that you would agree that we have been clear that any return for students on 12th April will be in line with Government guidance. We have planned on the best-case scenario but it is possible that we will, in fact, not be able to bring students back at the level of the autumn term. Should this be the case a number of the points your raise become less relevant.
With best wishes,
Roberta

———————————————————————————————-
We have today (31 March ) written to the Vice-Chancellor and senior management over continued concerns about returning to campus on 12 April.

Dear Vice-Chancellor

We write regarding the latest University communications about the return to campus teaching and working. 

Whilst we recognise the importance of a return to normality on campus—from both a financial and a student wellbeing perspective—we must insist that this be handled with care, so that staff safety and wellbeing do not fall by the wayside. 

We note that in the SUSSED blogpost dated 29th March the University accepts there is still a lack of clarity over what the recommended procedures will be for 12th April . This lack of clarity creates a number of serious problems.  

1.      It is not possible for colleagues to engage meaningfully with risk assessments before going on leave, as the only generic teaching and learning risk assessment currently available on the HS&R Sharepoint is the one that applies before Easter. Trades unions on campus have been asking for colleagues to be provided with the post-Easter information for a number of weeks. As we are entering a period of closure days, common annual leave and school holidays this timescale also precludes a meaningful process of statutory consultation with trade union H&S reps before the likely resumption of further in-person teaching. 

2.      Also relating to the upcoming Easter break, there will not be time for many staff to read and meaningfully engage with whichever risk assessment regime will be in place come 12th April – a process that will be vital to ensure assessments are adequately localised. Alternatively, it will require staff to undertake this important work outside of work hours. Both of these outcomes are detrimental to staff safety and wellbeing. 

3.      The University communications lean heavily on both forthcoming Government advice and the relative success of the UK vaccination programme. We note UK official guidance has to date been riddled with miscalculations and poor advice that have resulted in measurably worse outcomes in terms of health and safety. Further, any impact of national vaccination rates on COVID transmission on campus may be limited; the ONS estimates that only 15% of 16-24 year-olds have received even the first vaccine dose. Students thus constitute a largely-unvaccinated but proximate population ready to encounter the more transmissible and more dangerous B1.1.17 variant. We do not see adequate consideration of this fact. 

 SUCU has previously asked senior management to consider a short delay to return to teaching plans, until 19th April. This has been refused but management could still give clarity and reassurance to staff about post-Easter arrangements by proposing that the first week post-Easter continues on the pre-Easter model, so that staff (and H&S reps) have time to consider and plan for whatever return to blended learning was then proposed the week after. This would not only support staff safety and wellbeing over the break, but help ensure that the return to campus is considered and durable—something that we all have an interest in.  

 We hope you will give this matter your urgent attention and look forward to receiving a prompt response.

Southampton UCU Executive Committee

General Meeting Motion – Support for Funded Extensions for PGRs

The motion below was passed by a quorate General Meeting of Southampton UCU members, held on Wednesday 17th March 2021.

Motion: Branch support for funded extensions for postgraduate researchers  

This branch notes that: 

  • Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, PGRs have been campaigning for funded extensions and have been supported by many UCU members and branches
  • The UKRI phase 2 funding scheme will make available up to 3 months of funding for less than half of all UKRI funded students, despite UKRI’s own research finding that 77% of funded PGRs required an extension averaging 5 months.   
  • The UKRI phase 2 scheme is the benchmark for other funders, including the University of Southampton (UoS) scheme which launched on 3/2/21 and applies to both UKRI and UoS funded students. 
  • Criticisms have been levelled against the UoS phase 2 scheme including its potential to discriminate against PGRs with protected characteristics.  
  • Central government has not released any additional funds for PGRs. A recent FOI revealed the regulator, The Office for Students, has not discussed PGRs at any meetings since before August 2020.   
  • UCU is running a national campaign for PGRs to be treated as staff in order to improve conditions for PGRs who often have an ambiguous status within UK universities.  

This branch believes that: 

  • As a union with PGR members, it is right for our branch to take a campaigning stance on this issue. 
  • UKRI have not released adequate funds necessary to meet the real need of PGRs through the Covid-19 pandemic, and the funding support offered falls short of what is needed to ensure PGRs can complete their research.  
  • The current University of Southampton application system is flawed, discriminates against PGRs with protected characteristics and needs an overhaul. 
  • All PGRs studying during the pandemic should be entitled to access 6 months of funding, with further extensions available based on need.
  • The UCU national campaign for PGRs to be recognised as employees would resolve many of the issues experienced by PGRs due to their ambiguous role as both staff and students.   

This branch resolves to: 

  • Issue a statement in support of 6 month funded extensions to be offered to all PGRs studying during the Covid-19 pandemic, regardless of funding source. 
  • Call upon both UKRI and the UK government to make more money available to support research/ers affected by the pandemic, including PGRs.  
  • Call upon UoS to collate and publish the outcomes of the Phase II extension applications including the number of successful and rejected applications.
  • Continue to work collaboratively with the Southampton University student’s union (SUSU) to campaign for fair and equitable treatment of PGRs throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. 
  • Support PGRs campaign to pressure UoS to immediately overhaul the current Phase II extension application system, including:
    • Allowing PGRs to apply more than once for an extension if their first application is unsuccessful. 
    • A specific and measurable plan for how UoS will ensure fairness across application rounds, marginalised groups, and research areas. 
    • To reduce the unnecessary burden of proof put upon PGRs to disclose trauma experienced during the pandemic by requesting the only the minimum evidence necessary.   
  • Support the UCU national campaign to have PGRs recognised as workers, recognising the additional protections this status brings

 

Proposer: Bea Gardner.  Seconder: Alex Nicol- Harper 

Motion passed.

UCU Interim Congress – Feedback

The delayed interim Congress took place online over two days and the branch had 2 delegates in attendance on each day.

Congress was chaired by Justine Mercer on Day 1 and Vicky Blake and Janet Farrar on Day 2. The standing orders for online Congress have significantly altered the way that discussions take place; members have to request in advance if they wish to speak and there is no hand up option or chat available. While this is understandable given the amount of people attending and the need to ensure a balanced debate, there is no free-flowing discussion and it can feel as though some motions are not properly debated. The strict time limits imposed on speakers mean that it is difficult for those who speak more slowly to get their points across, and doubtless harder for people who find it more challenging to articulate their thoughts in high pressure situations. Nevertheless, the chairing on both days was excellent and, where time allowed, chairs tried to accommodate more people who had signalled that they wanted to contribute. Some flexibility was allowed and we felt that the elected officers were doing their very best to facilitate discussion while keeping the business moving.

The branch would like to extend our gratitude to all the UCU staff who must have worked incredibly hard to make Congress happen.

You can find all the motions which were moved and debated on the UCU site, at this link

 

Update from Saturday 13th Feb

Your branch delegates voted yes to all motions except:

Motion 1 – Civility and kindness: democracy, equality, diversity, and inclusion: While we agreed with the principle of the motion, an argument was put forward over whether ‘civility’ was a privileged position and might unintentionally be used to police the speech of those who struggle to be heard, women and people of colour in particular. We were split on this motion and felt that the branch membership would be as well and so we voted Yes + Abstain.

L2 – Using the law to maintain our safety: Congress went into closed session on this to receive legal advice. The legal advice from central UCU took issue with the word ‘instruct’ in the motion. The view presented was that the union instructing people to use section 44 amounts to illegal industrial action, which could potentially lead to action being taken against unions calling for this, including sequestration of funds. There was some disagreement from attendees about the length of time the legal advice took, and there was some disagreement with it, received via email afterwards. We generally support the spirit of the motion and feel UCU could do more within the spirit of the law, however we take the point about the wording ‘instruction’ and therefore decided to abstain.

L9 – Opposing the new DFE curriculum guidance: There were issues with the accuracy of the phrasing raised in discussion, so it was suggested that this motion was remitted. We agreed with this.

Motion 16 – Trans solidarity: It was raised in discussion that the factual points in this motion are now out of date: the government has now responded to the WEC saying that reform of the GRA is not a priority, meaning that a response is now needed to that response. The suggestion was made to remit the motion for updating in the light of recent developments. On balance, we agreed with this suggestion.

​Update from Tuesday 16th February

We voted yes to all motions except:

Motion 24 – The life of the democracy commission: The setting up of a Democracy Commission was controversial at the time. Many branch members were against it and did not agree with the recommendations that were made. On balance, our view was that the Democracy Commission had carried out its remit and did not need to be extended. If another one were to be set up in the future, we could discuss the merits of that, but we decided to vote no to extending the life of the current one.

Motion 25 – Case work: We voted no for confidentiality reasons as we felt it would be difficult to maintain anonymity if we had to ‘publish the type of cases/complaints’ that members of the branch needed support with.

Motion 28 – ‘People before profit’ programme: While we fully support the principles included in this motion, we were reluctant to vote for something which implied support for a group (SWP) which does not enjoy the backing of our members. We decided to vote no.

Motion 32 – Commission for sustainability, professional development and job security: We support the general principles of this motion but were not convinced that the actions proposed would help, so we decided to abstain.

Motion 34 – Indexation of pensions and benefits: We did not feel that there was enough detail in this motion for us to have a consensus. We abstained.

 

All motions were carried except Motion 24 (Democracy Commission – Lost) and Motion 9 (Opposing the new DFE curriculum guidance – remitted).