UCU Response to the 2020 Strategic Plan

The following is the UCU response to the Strategic Plan. It is based on comments sent in by UCU members, in which many questions were raised about the resources required to deliver the plan’s objectives. Members’ responses have been collated into a series of questions, which follow below:

1) How does management see the impact of high staff/student ratios on student satisfaction and completion rates, and what strategies are in place to address this issue on a university-wide basis, given the unevenness of staff/student ratios across faculties?

2) Are there plans to recruit more permanent staff (on teaching/research contracts)  to deal with current and anticipated increases in student enrolment?

3) Is the university committed to phasing out the use of casualised teaching-only staff and staff on zero-hour contracts?

4) What resources are being put into place to address the lack of space and resources at the City Centre Campus, including:

• dedicated space for student exhibitions;
• space for confidential meetings with students;
• space for staff to engage in work requiring sustained concentration, which may require privacy;
• space for computers and books in the Millennium Point library;
• space for seminars, to allow for a staff/student ratio of 20 students per tutor?

 5) We welcome the decision to include formal student representation on future development and planning around the strategic plan. Are there plans for similar formal staff representation?

 6) What resources will be put in place to enable people to register as Fellows of the Higher Education Academy?

 7) Will staff be expected to act as industry liaisons, and what will be the impact on workload?

 8) How will the proposed emphasis on vocational practice in all courses (including those based in research) affect the academic credibility of BCU, as well as plans to become a research-intensive university?

 9) What will are the workload implications of the research targets mentioned in the Strategic Plan on workload? What support and incentives in terms of teaching buyout, staff development and assistance with funding bid development will be put in place in order to achieve the research targets?

 10) Will the union be consulted during implementation phases of the Strategic Plan?

 11) How will the university support development of its wider staff group (including staff who work alongside us on a contracted basis such as facilities staff, cleaners, kitchen staff) to ensure that we are an inclusive learning community that develops all staff who make a contribution to our community?

 12) How will the university ensure that everyone who contributes to achieving our aspirations takes home a living wage?

We welcome the opportunity to contribute to the feedback on the strategic plan and would welcome any opportunities to open up further dialogue on this subject.