Tag: ucu
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Rough transcript of Sussex VC’s open forum on USS
On 6 May 2021, staff at Sussex were invited to register for an ‘open staff forum on USS’ held on 13 May. Staff were told If you are unable to attend, a recording will be made available as soon as possible after the event. As of 17 June 2021, despite repeated requests, the recording is…
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Sussex UCU declares dispute over threat of compulsory redundancies
Friday 4 June 2021 We publish this blog post to share an urgent update regarding the negotiations over possible compulsory redundancies at the University of Sussex, and to lay out how together UCU members at Sussex can make sure that job losses don’t happen. The headline news is that the University Executive Group (UEG) has…
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Sussex UCU response to the UUK consultation on the USS valuation
The following was prepared with input from across campus, and submitted as a paper for Council meeting 257, 7 May 2021. The Council meeting was a single issue meeting to prepare the University of Sussex institutional response to the UUK consultation on the USS 2020 valuation. Council papers should be available on the Council page…
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Initial views on the USS 2020 valuation and the UUK consultation
Sussex and IDS UCU Pensions Working Group is seeking input on initial views outlined here. Following your input we will prepare a more detailed response to share with Sussex and IDS institutions before the deadline of 24 May for the Employer’s response to the UUK consultation. Please check your inbox for emails with the subject…
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A critique of the Size and Shape project
The University of Sussex has justified the timing and scope of the Size and Shape project under the heading ‘Why Size and Shape is important, Read about what we need to do and, therefore, why this work matters.’ In response to this document, we contend that the Size and Shape project is poorly thought out,…
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Solidarity with staff and students of Boğaziçi University, Istanbul
As Sussex UCU we stand in solidarity with staff and students of Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, to defend academic freedoms. At its Emergency General Meeting on 14 January, Sussex UCU (University and College Union) Branch passed a motion supporting colleagues and students in Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey. The university’s long-standing tradition of the democratic selection…
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Open letter to UUK concerning lack of transparency at Sussex over USS
Updated on 9 February Read the reply from Alistair Jarvis, CEO of UUK to Sussex UCU Exec and Reps. In particular we draw attention to: We [UUK] will do all we can to ensure it is clear when he [the Sussex VC] is representing the collective position of employers [as opposed to the University of…
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Why are UEG and Council refusing to share the Sussex response to the UUK USS 2020 consultation?
Unlike other university leaders, the Chair of Council and UEG continue to refuse to share Sussex’s response to the recent UUK consultation on the USS 2020 valuation. This valuation is critical in determining the future of the scheme, since it proposes increases to contribution rates from the current level of 30.7% to between 40.8% and…
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UEG/UCU Joint Statement on Spring Semester Teaching
This week, following intensive negotiations, we agreed a joint statement with the University Executive Group on face-to-face teaching in the Spring Semester. The full statement is below and is also available on the university website. Although we continue to believe that, with necessary exceptions, all face-to-face teaching should be moved online, our key objective was…
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15 reasons why face-to-face teaching should not be compulsory in a pandemic
The position of Sussex UCU, as confirmed by vote in our EGM of 28 September, is that face-to-face (in-person) teaching, like all on-campus work during the pandemic, should be voluntary, and not compulsory, and should not carry the threat of disciplinary actions and dismissal. Sussex UCU supports the UCU national position that universities should take…
Sussex UCU, Brighton, UK 