Local News
May 4, 2012 - General Meetings - Extraordinary General Meeting, May 15, 2012 - Discuss Congress Motions and late motions to Congress
There will be an extraordinary general meeting on Tue May 15, 2012 at 13:00h in room 2N2.4.16 (Colchester campus) to discuss Discuss Congress Motions and late motions to Congress.
Full details, including deadlines for the submission of motions and amendments, are available from the EGM page, which will be updated as required.
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Mar 13, 2012 - Newsletter - Special edition on pensions
The latest local newsletter (PDF) is now avaialble.
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Nov 21, 2011 - Day of Action - UCU prepares for strike action on 30th November 2011
The national union has called for all members to strike on Wednesday, 30 November, in pursuit of a better deal in the pensions' dispute.
More information can be found on HO's webpage
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Oct 21, 2011 - College Inc - November 2 - Open to All
UCU are showing the much-talked about film "College Inc." on Wednesday 2nd November in LTB 9 from 12.30pm to 2pm.
This 60 minutue film investigates the extremely profitable "For-Profit" higher education industry in the United States and asks what the students are getting out of the deal. Critics say a worthless degree. Investors insist they are widening access to education. Come and watch the film and decide for yourself whether a similar expansion of "For-Profit" education would be a good or bad thing in the UK.
Everyone is very welcome to come and see this film, whether you are a union member or not.
Selected National News
Apr 25, 2012 - London Metropolitan - No confidence vote
Over 90% of staff say they have no confidence in vice-chancellor.
UCU today called on the governors of London Metropolitan University (LMU) to urgently intervene in the running of the university after staff delivered an overwhelmingly vote of no confidence in the university's management.
The survey of teaching and support staff revealed that over nine in ten staff (91%) have lost confidence in LMU's vice-chancellor, Malcolm Gilles, and his senior management team.
Staff are furious at plans to axe more than 200 jobs as part of a radical programme of cuts that will result in over three-quarters of courses being closed. The union fears these moves are merely the thin end of the wedge, with further cuts to jobs and courses likely in the future.
UCU added that LMU is yet to present a convincing business case for its plans to slash £7m from the wage bill by July. The union has seen information from the university's Human Resources department that shows over £7m was saved through staff leaving between July and December 2011.
For more information, see London Metropolitan University given vote of no confidence by staff on the national web site.
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Mar 29, 2012 - Funding - University teaching budgets slashed and student places down
English universities will see their teaching budgets slashed by a third this academic year (2012/13) and there will be 11,000 fewer student places available as government cuts to higher education start to bite.
Core teaching funding is being cut by 34%, from £3.6bn in 2011/12 to £2.4bn in 2012/13, according to details released today by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
Although students will have to pay up to £9,000 fees, as universities try to make up government funding reductions with higher tuition fees, there will be almost 11,000 (3%) fewer student places at universities for first year undergraduates than in 2011/12 (364,325 places in 2011/12, compared to just 353,415 in 2012/13).
See University teaching budgets slashed and student places down as government cuts start to bite on the national web site for the full story.
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Mar 28, 2012 - Salford - University announces sixth round of job cuts in less than a year
Around 150 jobs are at risk at Salford University after the university today announced a sixth round of job cuts in less than a year.
UCU said the latest round of cuts were another devastating blow for a workforce already left demoralised by previous efforts to cut staff.
Under the plans teaching and research posts will be axed in art and design, computer studies and languages, humanities, life sciences, and environmental studies where housing management courses will be completely axed.
This latest round of job cuts comes just a fortnight after the university announced that over 180 administrative and technical staff face redundancy. UCU members at Salford will meet shortly to discuss next steps in their efforts to halt yet more job losses.
See Salford University announces sixth round of job cuts in less than a year on the national web site for the full story.
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Mar 2, 2012 - Elections - Sally Hunt returned as general secretary of UCU with increased majority
Sally Hunt has today been re-elected as general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), defeating her only opponent Mark Campbell by a margin of 6,835 votes. She won 73% of the votes cast.
The margin of Sally Hunt's victory is more than five times greater than when she was elected UCU's first general secretary in 2007, when she won by 1,346 votes.
Speaking after the result, Sally Hunt said: 'College and university staff play a vital role in our society and they deserve better than to have their pensions attacked, pay frozen and the services they provide threatened with privatisation.
'UCU's role today is not just to protect members' professional interests but also to stand up for the value of education itself. Improving support for members and branches in the current climate is not an optional extra, it is essential to protect our people wherever they work.
'I stood on a platform of improving services for members and supporting branches, campaigning on what matters and giving members more say in the union's decisions. Achieving this will mean making difficult choices such as reducing the size of our national executive committee to that of other unions in order to put more resources on the front line. This election result and the strong mandate I have received shows that UCU members recognise the need for positive change within the union if we are to rise to the many challenges we face.'
Sally Hunt is returned as general secretary of UCU with increased majority on the national UCU web site for more information.=> more national-Elections news
