University of Hertfordshire UCU

Well that's it: Film Studies and Modern Languages programmes to close at Leicester Uni. Sad and wrong. Every day, the UK becomes a little less outward looking.

Is the University of Hertfordshire a fair employer?  The University’s senior managers spent almost £14,000 on attending just one awards dinner last November while low-paid staff are resorting to food banks  The University Executive Team’s members earn £163,000 on average but its lowest-paid staff earn just £24,685  The University approved a 42% increase in the number of senior managers earning £100,000+ last year while staff received a 1.4% below-inflation pay rise (further contributing to a catastrophic 20-30% real-terms pay cut since 2009)  The University holds £104.5 million in cash and short-term deposits but refuses to pay a one-off hardship payment for 2,255 lower-paid staff costing £721,800  To add to the misery, the University refuses to reverse last August’s ‘monstrous’ 50% campus parking charge hike despite our petition gaining almost 1100 signatures  And then cuts our staff bonus by 72% from £350 to £100 Is any of this fair? UCU Herts is a trade union representing lecturers and researchers at the University of Hertfordshire. We’re campaigning to make it a fair employer. If you want to join UCU, email us at uhucu@herts.ac.uk or send us your message of support Let’s make the F in the University’s FACES values stand for Fairness

Our branch has launched its campaign to put the Fairness in the University's FACES values.

* Refugee Support

The two motions:
a) solidarity and a donation to the fund of @ucuessex.bsky.social
b) a contribution to the UH Refugees at Calais charity fund

were passed by the branch.

Thanks to all members who attended our branch meeting yesterday.
We still appreciate your information on
a) refusals of requests for travel/conference funding for staff/research students
b) WAMs/workload allocation.

Email us with your feedback.

University of Bristol asks humanities and modern languages staff to voluntarily quit This scheme comes as part of the 'managed decline' of schools deemed less profitable to the university

Things that would be interesting to know about the current contraction of UK academic staffing (and that it would actually be super helpful if REF2029 institutional SPRE statements were required to report on) include:

What's the impact on the equality and diversity of academic staffing? 1/3

Our incredible students have written a letter of support to the VC and are asking students to co-sign their petition - a few extracts from their Instagram post here, and links below! ✊

Is the University of Hertfordshire a fair employer?  The University’s senior managers spent almost £14,000 on attending just one awards dinner last November while low-paid staff are resorting to food banks  The University Executive Team’s members earn £163,000 on average but its lowest-paid staff earn just £24,685  The University approved a 42% increase in the number of senior managers earning £100,000+ last year while staff received a 1.4% below-inflation pay rise (further contributing to a catastrophic 20-30% real-terms pay cut since 2009)  The University holds £104.5 million in cash and short-term deposits but refuses to pay a one-off hardship payment for 2,255 lower-paid staff costing £721,800  To add to the misery, the University refuses to reverse last August’s ‘monstrous’ 50% campus parking charge hike despite our petition gaining almost 1100 signatures  And then cuts our staff bonus by 72% from £350 to £100 Is any of this fair? UCU Herts is a trade union representing lecturers and researchers at the University of Hertfordshire. We’re campaigning to make it a fair employer. If you want to join UCU, email us at uhucu@herts.ac.uk or send us your message of support Let’s make the F in the University’s FACES values stand for Fairness

2. Fairness campaign: £14k senior management dinner expenses

3. Other work conditions: (a) VL overpayments; (b) maternity leave; (c) WAMS

4. Motions: (a) Solidarity with Essex UCU
(b) UH Refugee Support Group

5. AOB

Online branch meeting on Weds 18th, 1pm. Zoom link has been sent to members by email.
Agenda:

1. Failures to agree with management: hardship payment, 50% parking charge increase, line manager teaching observation and loss of appraisal confidentiality

solidarity to colleagues at Northumbria

UCU Herts is a trade union representing lecturers and researchers at the University of Hertfordshire. We’re campaigning to make it a fair employer. If you want to join UCU, email us at uhucu@herts.ac.uk or send us your message of support Let’s make the F in the University’s FACES values stand for Fairness

Let's make the F in the University's FACES values stand for Fairness.

Is the University of Hertfordshire a fair employer?  The University’s senior managers spent almost £14,000 on attending just one awards dinner last November while low-paid staff are resorting to food banks  The University Executive Team’s members earn £163,000 on average but its lowest-paid staff earn just £24,685  The University approved a 42% increase in the number of senior managers earning £100,000+ last year while staff received a 1.4% below-inflation pay rise (further contributing to a catastrophic 20-30% real-terms pay cut since 2009)  The University holds £104.5 million in cash and short-term deposits but refuses to pay a one-off hardship payment for 2,255 lower-paid staff costing £721,800  To add to the misery, the University refuses to reverse last August’s ‘monstrous’ 50% campus parking charge hike despite our petition gaining almost 1100 signatures  And then cuts our staff bonus by 72% from £350 to £100

Launching our new Put the Fairness into FACES campaign.

Is the University of Hertfordshire a fair employer?

FOURTEENTHOUSANDPOUNDSTERLING???

Can we please get an intervention into #UKHE governance round about now? £14,000 isn't going to make or break Hertfordshire, but that a handful of senior mangers just can throw this cash at stuff they want & justify it by the dictatorship of rankings is corrosive.

This shit is galling. 14k isn't a massive sum in the scale of running a university, but think of the *good* that it could do:

* Undergrad summer research projects
* ECR travel grants
* Student hardship funds

These things would benefit people AND the university by improving research and retention.

Senior managers spend almost £14,000 on attending awards dinner in Edinburgh.

The University’s senior personnel attended the Times Higher Education Awards on 13 November in Edinburgh. We wrote to the Finance Director, on 1 December seeking the full cost to the University of attendance at the event

📢 Staff on casualised contracts: have your say

UCU’s annual meeting takes place Sat 28 Feb (hybrid) at UCU HQ & on Zoom.

Share your voice and shape how we fight insecurity at work

Register by 17 Feb ucu.wufoo.com/forms/annual...

a calendar that says save the date is on a yellow background Alt: a calendar that says save the date is on a yellow background

branch members - we have a branch meeting coming up on Wednesday 18 February, at 1pm. Zoom link and agenda to follow by email.

While senior managers spent almost £14,000 on just one dinner, both unions, UCU and UNISON, continue to receive reports of professional but also academic staff resorting to food banks, especially towards the end of the month.

the 42% rise last year in the number of senior managers earning £100,000 or more.

the below inflation pay rise of 1.4% this year further contributing to the real-terms pay cut in our salaries since 2009 of 20-30% (depending on the measure of inflation used);
the University’s decision to cut the staff bonus this year by 72% to £100 from last year’s £350;

the University’s refusal to make a one-off hardship payment to UH3-UH7 staff as proposed by UCU and UNISON – though the University currently holds £104.5 million in cash and short-term deposits;

This astonishing expenditure needs also to be seen in the context of:

the University’s refusal to reverse the unprecedented 50% parking charge rise, despite a petition gaining almost 1,100 signatories

There are two publicly available photographs of the tables of staff at the dinner, drinking bottles of wine.

We know 20 participants attended, for the most part senior managers, as well as the ex-VC, Quintin McKellar, and the Chair of Governors, David Sproul. No lecturer attended, not even the winner of the VC Awards Teaching Staff Member of the Year.

The cost amounted to an astonishing figure of £13,905.63.

On 18 December, we submitted a statutory request for the full attendance cost under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The University failed to reply within the 20-day legal limit, breaching the Act. But after two further chasing emails, the full cost of attending the dinner was finally provided,

Senior managers spend almost £14,000 on attending awards dinner in Edinburgh.

The University’s senior personnel attended the Times Higher Education Awards on 13 November in Edinburgh. We wrote to the Finance Director, on 1 December seeking the full cost to the University of attendance at the event

We agree. Is your workload over 100%? Does your workload allocation feel unfair and disproportionate? Does it reflect the work you actually do?
We encourage UH staff to fill in the current survey into WAMS

We encourage you to fill in the survey, especially if you believe it is inaccurately or unfairly allocated.

development projects help shape wams for 2026-7 - share your feedback

Members - The University have opened up a survey on the Workload Allocation Model System (WAMS).
There is a link on the front page of HertsHub and in the Herts Weekly Digest email sent today.
There are two surveys - for allocators and for 'end users' i.e. academic staff.