Tag: News

Posted on

LU Staff Experience Survey

LU Staff Experience Survey

The LUCU Committee would like to encourage members to complete the Staff Experience Survey.

Although there can be some scepticism about staff satisfaction surveys, the University views the survey as a key means for taking a staff “temperature check”.

We are therefore keen to ensure that a representative set of experiences and views are reflected in the survey. The higher the response rate, the more meaningful the results will be and the easier it will be for us to lobby management on the issues raised. We therefore also encourage you to respond as honestly as you feel able to, without identifying specific issues that are personal to you. Using the free text sections is a good way to highlight concerns that aren’t covered elsewhere.

If you haven’t yet filled in the survey, you should be receiving reminder emails from People Insight that include your personal link. Responses are anonymised by People Insight before results are fed back to the University and your School or Service.

The survey takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete and closes on the 15th of December.

LUCU Committee

Posted on

A New Rep Joins the Team

A New Rep Joins the Team

We are very pleased to announce that a new department rep has been added to the branch team. In the School of Social Sciences and Humanities Amy Cortvriend has recently taken over the role of department rep for Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy. Many thanks go to Nathan Ritchie for his work in the role over the last few years. We know Amy will do a great job representing members in CSSP.

Amy Cortvriend, LUCU Rep for Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy, School of Social Sciences and Humanities.

“I’m Amy Cortvriend and I joined Loughborough as Lecturer in Criminology just over a year ago. I moved from another university where I was the migrant members representative on the branch committee so already have some union experience and am looking forward to supporting our members again.“

We currently have vacancies for Reps in London, Computer Science, Lboro Sport, Chemistry, Student Services, OnCampus & Wolfson. Interested members from those areas are encouraged to get in touch with our Branch Organiser, Callum Salfield, for more information or a chat about the role.

Posted on

EDI Project Funding Available

EDI Project Funding Available

We would like to make members aware that EDI Services have a pot of funding available for individual EDI-related projects. This is a great way to resource local EDI initiatives in Schools and Professional Services. Applications for the next round of funding close on 15th January. Please see this website for more details and examples of successfully funded projects.

Posted on

Approaching retirement? Become a Retired Member

Approaching retirement? Become a Retired Member

If you are coming up to retirement, we recommend that you consider remaining a member of UCU and either join the UCU East Midlands Retired Members Branch or switch to a retired membership whilst remaining in the LUCU branch, whichever you prefer. Retired members are entitled to most of the same benefits as other members. Retired membership is the same price in both LUCU and the EM Retired Members branch: £3.08 per month, including 5p for the political fund.

Please see this page on our website for information on the East Midlands Retired Members branch and information on how to change your membership and subscription.

Posted on

eVisa and Immigration Status

eVisa and Immigration Status

The UK government is replacing physical documents with an online system for immigration status, also known as an eVisa. If you currently have a biometric residence permit (BRP) for a visa or ILR, an EEA or EUSS biometric residence card (BRC), or an endorsement stamp or visa sticker in your passport, you need to replace this physical document by the end of December 2024 with an eVisa. An eVisa is an online record of your immigration status and the conditions of your permission to enter or stay in the UK. You will no longer be able to use your physical documents to return to the UK or prove your immigration status within the UK from 1 January 2025 onwards. You will need to create a UKVI account to be able to access your eVisa. There is information on how to do this here.

eVisa Webinar

Bindmans solicitors are holding a webinar on Monday 18th November (1-2pm) which will give you an overview of the UK government’s planned transition from physical biometric permits, including Indefinite Leave to Remain, EU settlement scheme and all types of visa to an electronic format. You can register for this event here. UCU are collecting any questions members might have for the immigration lawyers relating to the e-Visa scheme/process. Please submit your questions to the UCU equalities team before 13th November.

Posted on

Decarbonise & Decolonise CPD Training

Decarbonise & Decolonise CPD Training

Lboro UCU branch has organised a CPD workshop, open to all LU staff, which will introduce participants to the interconnectivity of the Decarbonise and Decolonise agendas and identify opportunities to take action.

The CPD course will take place online on 11th December from 12:30 – 2pm. Please come along and invite your colleagues (including those who may not be UCU members) to join us.

This can be used as evidence of training, and some staff might also find the workshop helpful for feeding into their PDR EDI Performance Objectives.

The workshop will give an overview of climate justice, and how this links to the concepts of ‘decolonising’ and ‘decarbonising’ as the structural and systemic roots of the human-induced climate crisis. We will explore examples of climate injustice, and how this often intersects with issues like race, gender, class and indigeneity.

We will also look at examples of when sustainability actions and initiatives have not taken an intersectional approach, with discussions on how we can avoid this in education to create sustainability activities that recognise and work to challenge the harmful legacies of colonialism and imperialism.

The full aims of the interactive workshop are to:

  • provide an introductory understanding of climate justice and its connection with decolonising and decarbonising
  • support participants to identify opportunities to apply decolonising and decarbonising for climate justice to the education sector
  • encourage participants to develop their own practice to consider climate justice and intersectionality
  • explore the role of UCU branches and members in mobilising action for decolonising and decarbonising.

Sign up to the training here and please share this link with any other staff at Lboro who may be interested in coming along – https://cpd.web.ucu.org.uk/events/ucu-decarbonise-and-decolonise-loughborough/

Posted on

Unions win an extra Christmas closure day for 2024

Unions win an extra Christmas closure day for 2024

UCU, along with Unite and UNISON requested in July that the University close for the 23rd of December, rather than colleagues returning for one day between the weekend and the Christmas break, giving us a significantly longer continuous break.  The request did not initially get a warm reception, but we were subsequently told it would be looked on favourably if sufficient progress was made on a number of policy changes the University wanted to make.  Union reps have therefore been working hard to progress these matters, while of course being diligent about ensuring the best outcome for members.  The Vice Chancellor agreed to our request in October.  We hope everyone enjoys their extended break.

Posted on

Loughborough UCU Statement of Solidarity with Coalition of Loughborough Action for Palestine

Loughborough UCU Statement of Solidarity with Coalition of Loughborough Action for Palestine

In Oct 2024, Loughborough University UCU (LUCU) passed a motion in defence of students and staff speaking out in support of Palestine. We write this as a statement of solidarity with those in the University community who are speaking out, especially the Coalition of Loughborough Action for Palestine, an interdisciplinary student coalition made up of UG, PG, and PGR students across disciplines and both Loughborough campuses, with widespread staff support and links to national higher education activist organisations.

The war in Gaza, and continued violence in the West Bank has seen the physical destruction of every Gazan university, damage or destruction of around 90% of school buildings, arbitrary military detention and silencing of Palestinian academics, and the killing and wounding of academics, teachers and students. This is educide, the deliberate destruction of educational infrastructure, and epistemicide, the destruction of knowledge.  As a higher education union, we condemn this.  Loughborough University should as well.

Moreover, we stand for the protection of academic freedom and freedom of speech. Universities are legally bound to promote freedom of speech under their obligations through the Office for Students, even at the risk of causing offence. We believe it is important that both Loughborough University (LU) and Loughborough Students Union (LSU) allow student and staff protests and recognise the legitimate fears many have about revealing their identity, especially if they are not UK citizens. We also request that the University and LSU continue to facilitate ongoing discussions on the war, violence and occupation, as LUCU commits to doing as part of the motion passed. We are deeply concerned by multiple accounts of suppression by LU and LSU of pro-Palestinian sentiment, which we are prepared to discuss in more detail at a meeting, and we wish to have these investigated and addressed if substantiated.

Similarly, students should not be hindered in their right to boycott third parties, for example by being required, as part of their studies, to attend career fairs that include representatives from companies to which they object on political grounds. 

Since the Coalition is made up of members of the University community, we believe it should be considered a legitimate channel for student and staff concerns. To that end, we request that key members of the University Executive Board meet and engage with representatives of the Coalition, and LUCU are prepared to attend and support such engagement.

Posted on

Response to the University’s Announcement on Saudi Arabia

Response to the University’s Announcement on Saudi Arabia

An announcement in the recent LU Staff Newsletter states that the University has decided not to pursue a teaching presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  UCU members across the University have been at the forefront of highlighting the enormous risks around staff and student human rights with which we would have had to contend in the country.  For example the ongoing repression of women, criminalisation and execution of members of the LGBT+ community, and the outlawing of trades unions and collective bargaining. We have also drawn attention to more specific concerns around the maintenance of academic standards and the impossibility of maintaining academic freedom under such a repressive regime. 

We have collectively provided challenge in our union negotiating forums, in General Assemblies, in school, department and group meetings, in the face of what often felt like very anecdotal positions.  We have educated our colleagues and students on the issues, and built allyship across our campuses.  We are, therefore, delighted that the senior leadership of the University have come to this reasoned conclusion. We are also pleased about the potential to welcome more Saudi students to our campuses, and other opportunities we may have to make positive change while maintaining our core values.

A message we have heard from some colleagues over the last year, especially those not used to challenging management, is along the lines “I’m horrified about this, but what can you do?  It’s all been decided already, hasn’t it.”  This outcome shows that we were right to keep trying, to keep making the argument, to keep educating.  It demonstrates the value and strength of collective action in getting our voices heard.

Thank you to all who spoke up, and well done.

LUCU Committee

Posted on

Introducing the 2024-25 LUCU Committee

Introducing the 2024-25 LUCU Committee

Starting on the 1st August a new LUCU committee has been elected. We offer our thanks and appreciation for the brilliant work of our outgoing committee members, Mary Brewer (Chair), Kerry Featherstone (Equality Officer) and Marc Gibson. We also offer a warm welcome to our new committee members: Scott Fernie, Angela Dy, Marco Pino, David Saal and Eleanor Roberts.

Marco Pino, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, LUCU Treasurer

“Hi everyone. I am Marco Pino, a senior lecturer in Communication and Social Interaction (School of Social Sciences and Humanities). I have been working at Loughborough University since 2015. I was involved with my School’s EDI committee for the last three years, and I was responsible for coordinating the submission of the latest School Athena Swan renewal application. I am also a voluntary member of the University Trans and Nonbinary Working group, and a member of the LGBT+ Network. I will serve as Treasurer for the LUCU committee, and I am excited to start contributing more actively to the life of the Union.”

Angela Dy, Loughborough London, LUCU Equality Officer

“I’m Dr Angela Martinez Dy, Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Loughborough University London, where I have worked since the campus opened in 2015. I am very pleased to join the UCU Committee as Equality Officer. My academic specialism is in digital entrepreneurship and intersectionality, and I have been invited to use this expertise to collaboratively initiate and drive a range of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work at the University. Past roles have included network lead for the REACH (formerly BAME) Staff Network since 2019, Strategic Architect of the LU RACE Equity Strategy (2021-2022), and co-chair of the EDI Advisory Forum (2021-2023), which at its height included 118 members from across grades and job families.

In 2020, I proposed and instituted the EDI Committee and Advisory Forum as the University’s first dedicated EDI governance structures. I have also served as UCU rep for the London campus (2016-2020) and supported members individually as a caseworker. My (virtual) door is always open to members to discuss EDI issues and concerns. I will do my best to raise and shepherd these through the appropriate channels or create new ways forward if these do not yet exist.”

Eleanor Roberts, University Library, LUCU Committee Member

“Hi! I’m Eleanor Roberts. I’m an Academic Librarian and a committed trade unionist. In both roles I’m all about finding information and helping people. I just joined the university and am delighted by how welcoming everyone is, both in the union and the university more broadly. I’m looking forward to getting properly stuck in!”

Scott Fernie, School of Architecture Building & Civil Engineering, LUCU Committee Member

“I have been at Loughborough University (2nd tour!) since December 2011 and am the Director of Postgraduate Studies in the School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering. After a sustained period of time in my youth doing a variety of jobs (soldier, forklift driver, insurance salesman, waiting list manager in NHS, barman and office equipment engineer), I eventually studied at Abertay University and Dundee University before pursuing an academic career via spells at Heriot-Watt University, Reading University and Loughborough University. I have always been interested in, and a member of, unions coming from a very working-class background. I hope to initially concentrate on engaging with members and non-members alike to help grow the union.”

The LUCU committee is now made up of the following members.

  • Chair: David Wilson
  • Branch Secretary: Anthony Kevins
  • Treasurer: Marco Pino
  • Personal Casework Coordinator: Andrew Dix
  • Equality Officer: Angela Dy
  • Health, Safety & Environment Officer: Alec Edworthy
  • Ordinary Committee Members: Marie Hanlon, Denise Coles, Scott Fernie, David Saal & Eleanor Roberts.

We are always on the lookout to add to our team. If any of the following roles interest you, please get in touch with our Branch Organiser, Callum Salfield, or one of our committee members for more information or a chat about what the role entails: Membership Secretary, Vice Chair, Anti-Casualisation Officer, Pensions Officer, Recruitment Officer, Green Rep & Union Learning Rep. We also have space for additional Ordinary Committee Members, which are great roles for anyone who wants to get more involved and/or build up some experience before potentially taking on a role with a portfolio.