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HomeStudyCurrent studentsIndustrial actionLetter to students 29th November

Letter to students from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), 29/11/2019

Dear Students,

I am writing to give you an update on the current industrial action by members of the University and College Union (UCU).
As you may know the planned industrial action has been scheduled to run on:

  • Monday 25 November – Friday 29 November (5 consecutive days).
  • Monday 2 December – Wednesday 4 December (3 consecutive days).

The University and College Union (UCU) also advised their members to begin action short of a strike (ASOS) from Monday 25 November.

During the first five days of the industrial action, we know there has been a substantial variation between the disruptions faced by students in different disciplines, which has resulted in some of you experiencing far greater levels of disruption than others. We also want you to be aware that yesterday evening a small number of students occupied part of the Peter Chalk Centre on the Streatham campus. This means that teaching in the Peter Chalk Centre, including the Newman lecture theatres, will be disrupted today. We are working to reschedule the planned teaching and will be in touch directly, via text and email, with any changes or postponements that are necessary.

We thank you for your understanding during what may have been an unsettling time and would encourage you to look at the Frequently Asked Questions page that we have developed so you can access information about learning support for lost teaching sessions, the January exams, extensions to assignments / coursework, as well as the additional support sessions we’ve organised at our Exeter and Penryn campuses. Please do come along to the support sessions for face to face advice and guidance and let your SSLC representatives know about other support that you would welcome.

As well as apologising for disruption you have experienced, we would highlight the Wellbeing Services at both the Exeter and Cornwall campuses and the well-known self-help tool, SilverCloud that you can access by creating an account using your University email address.

We remain committed to working with colleagues across the University to ensure that your learning is supported, that you are enabled to continue to study, and that your academic outcomes are protected.

We still very much hope that the national disputes can be resolved and we will continue to keep you informed as the situation progresses.

With best wishes,
Tim
Professor Tim Quine
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education)
Professor of Earth Surface Science
College of Life and Environmental Sciences