Exeter UCU action short of a strike from 28 October
The Exeter branch of the University and College Union (UCU) has notified the University that some members will begin action short of a strike (ASOS) from Wednesday, 28 October.
Colleagues taking part in ASOS will continue to carry out their normal duties but may not take on additional tasks or workload outside their contractual duties.
Below you’ll find a range of FAQs and further information about the action, including what it means for colleagues, pay and where to find support.
If you plan to take part in action short of a strike, please email your Head of Department and Senior Academic Leader/line manager at the earliest opportunity. If you have taken part in action short of a strike, you may be asked to report the action you have taken in accordance with the University’s reporting arrangements.
Colleagues participating in action short of a strike are expected to continue to fulfil all their contractual duties. For colleagues with teaching and research responsibilities, this includes teaching, marking and student support and activities relating to PGR supervision and assessment. Colleagues in research and professional services roles will also be expected to continue to undertake all their contractual duties.
Where action consists solely of working to contract, your pay will not be affected. If action short of a strike involves not undertaking duties that form part of your contractual responsibilities, the arrangements set out online may be applied.
If you need any additional support during this time, please do not hesitate to speak to your line manager, who will be there to listen and help. You can also visit our colleague wellbeing webpages to access the range of support available, including our Employee Assistance Programme, Spectrum Life, which provides 24/7 confidential, in-the-moment support, advice, and counselling. You can call via Freephone UK on 0808 196 2016 or International on 00353 1 518 0277.
If you have any other questions about the Action Short of a Strike please contact humanresources@exeter.ac.uk, and we will respond to you as soon as we can.
While we expect the planned action to have minimal impact on students, we will continue to monitor the situation and keep students informed of anything they need to know. We have advised students to continue attending their timetabled sessions and submitting assignments by their usual due dates and have provided online FAQs with further information and support.
Any student who wishes to discuss their own personal situation should contact industrialaction@exeter.ac.uk as we have academic and professional services colleagues able to look at their individual circumstances.
No, the University will remain open and we do not anticipate widespread disruption across the University, as colleagues participating in the action will continue to work and undertake their normal contractual duties, including scheduled teaching, office hours, assessment and feedback, supervision and research support.
We have more than 7,000 colleagues working here. UCU have notified us that they have 1,270 members at the University which equates to around 18% of University staff. Not all members may choose to take part in this action short of a strike. For data protection reasons, we do not hold a log of union members but we do have an indication of which faculties and professional services members are grouped in.
Like many universities across the UK, we are facing financial pressures due to long-term reductions in government funding, the falling real-terms value of tuition fees, and reduced international demand for UK degrees.
Over the past three years, we have taken significant action to control costs and maintain the University’s financial strength. While these measures have helped us continue to invest in delivering an excellent student experience and support new opportunities, the pressures facing both the sector and the University are set to continue.
In June, after carefully reviewing the size and shape of parts of the University, we opened a formal consultation on proposed changes to staffing across some areas of our academic faculties to better align activities with student demand, research excellence, income growth and long-term financial sustainability.
The consultation concluded in early September. Following feedback from affected staff and Trade Unions, together with voluntary arrangements agreed by some staff, the University achieved nearly all of the required savings, and on this basis, there were no compulsory redundancies in any area where changes were proposed.