Advice for Course Directors

Our agreed strategy for Course Directors is as follows:

  1. Do not comply with managerial requests to fill out spreadsheets about sessions potentially affected by industrial action – it is additional work for course directors which also compromises positive staff relationships. Also, one cannot assume that because a person is a UCU member, they will be taking the full 18 days strike action.
  2. There is no justifiable reason for course directors to ask if tutors intend to teach or strike. By law the onus is on striking staff to report to their line manager if they strike. By law, striking staff do not have to let line managers know before they strike – only after. It is advised that those who strike inform their line managers verbally or by email and not by completing proformas which may be used to target certain staff.
  3. Higher management have had ample notice of the 18 strike days taking place and therefore ample time to anticipate the current scenario and plan for it. They have not communicated an emergency response/plan and the communications sent out to students is misleading and irresponsible, because they are encouraging students to come in to class in the hope that course directors can find staff to cover. It is not the responsibility of course directors to provide an emergency plan. Whilst course directors may find cover when absence is due to sickness, it is not their responsibility to find cover for staff taking industrial action. This will undermine the strike and the whole point of striking is to highlight how overworked all staff are.
  4. Course directors seeking to cover mandatory aspects of their courses will find it difficult and stressful to do so due to lack of capacity. This, therefore, may well result in things having to be rearranged at a later date. Accept and plan for this.
  5. Module leaders and tutors in UCU are well aware that taught aspects of their courses cannot be assessed as originally intended if content has been missed due to industrial action. There are strategies in place to deal with this issue.
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