Letter to YUSU Sabbatical Officers, February 2023

Dear all

Thank you for your letter, dated 31 January 2023, about the latest industrial action led by UCU. 

Let me also thank you again for the invitation to join you in the Instagram Live session on Monday 30 January, and the chance to inform and, where we can, reassure students. 

First of all, I’d like to reiterate our main messages to students at this time:

• Continue to attend your timetabled sessions as usual, even when strike action has been announced. Not all staff will be taking strike action, and those that do may not take action on every date announced. Don't risk missing out on your learning. 
• We are working with Schools and Departments to assess any impact on your studies; some of that assessment will take place after this period of industrial action, once we are clear how much teaching, learning and assessment has been missed.
• Your assessments will not rely on anything you have missed due to industrial action. Some assessments may not be adapted in advance due to timings, but the final marking/assessment will take into account the content you have missed, so that you are not penalised.

I am, second, also keen to reiterate my wider message, as set out in my FT article and the wider opinion-piece on which it was based, that all parties need to come together to find a resolution. 

I continue to work to shape conversations at national level, based on positive feedback on my FT piece, that might open up new ground for discussion and, in due course, resolution of the current disputes. I have been calling on our campus unions to use their channels to help shape national conversations in this way. I trust that you as student representatives will also be giving them the same message. 

If we are to find our way out of this cycle of disruption, we need everyone - staff, unions, students and student unions - to be building common ground, influencing national processes through our respective channels, and ultimately working together to tackle the root causes of the current disputes and move on from disruptive strike action.

Third, in response to your questions, I will take each point in your letter in turn. 

My answers below are predominantly based on the replies I gave in our Instagram Live session, as well as on our FAQs on our dedicated website.

1. How you will ensure that open and timely lines of communication are in place between the University and students?

We work hard to issue communications to all students as soon as we are advised of new strike action, or changes to proposed strike action. 

Our communications are generally in the form of all student emails and newsletters, and are supported by york.ac.uk/students updates, social media and digital screen reminders across campus.

All these communications signpost to our dedicated Industrial Action webpage for students. Previous communications are saved here for reference, and we also host student FAQs, which are regularly updated as and when we have new information.

We receive student feedback via a number of channels including; our mailbox industrial-action-enquiries@york.ac.uk, our social media channels, Department feedback and via our interactions with you, as our Students Union representatives. We do our best to respond to all queries/ feedback and to keep our communications lines open. I hope that this week’s Instagram Live demonstrates our commitment to this open approach.

As this period of strike action progresses we will monitor the situation and issue updates to any new issues arising or further questions from students. 

2. How you will ensure that mitigating measures are in place for all cancelled teaching so that the effect of strikes on students’ learning is softened?

We are doing all that we can to limit the effect this has on students' studies and overall university experience. Based on our experience from previous periods of industrial action, we are working particularly closely with the departments that have been most affected in the past. This includes exploring mitigations we can put in place to minimise impact, which might include:

• Alternative and/or additional learning opportunities
• Rescheduling teaching
• Providing complementary teaching
• Supporting learning in other ways
• Making adjustments to assessments

At the moment, we can’t say exactly how students will be affected by the strike action. This is because we don't know which staff will strike, or on which days. In some cases staff may choose to strike on just some of the days, due to the unprecedented length of this action. It is our hope that we can mitigate the impact on students as much as possible. 

3. How you will ensure that undelivered content is removed from assessments and examinations?

After industrial action has taken place, departments will review any impact. Their first priority will be to make any necessary adjustments to assessment.

Students can be assured that exams and other assessments will not rely on content that hasn’t been covered as a result of missed teaching. 

Due to timings, there could be some assessments which staff are not able to adapt to remove undelivered content in advance. In these instances, the final marking/ assessment will take into account the content students have missed, so that students are not penalised.

4. How will you ensure that marking for final-year students is prioritised so as to avoid delaying their graduations?

Staff across Student and Academic Services and academic departments are working together to coordinate our response to strike action. 

We are examining the different ways for students to progress, and marking for final-year students will be prioritised as part of these plans, to ensure that there are no delays to student graduations this summer. 

5. How you will ensure the process for raising a complaint to and obtaining compensation from the University and the OIA is properly advertised to students?

We will continue to update students throughout this period of industrial action. We will update our student FAQs, which are always linked to in our communications, and where students can find information about our industrial action procedures.

We hope that the majority of our students do not see much disruption as a result of the strikes and that mitigations will help to reduce the impact on teaching and learning. We need to review any impact first, but if students still feel they have been adversely affected, there is a process to follow which starts with talking to their Department. Find out further information about how to raise concerns as an appeal or complaint.

I hope that this answers the questions you set out and we will continue to work closely with you as the strike action progresses and we determine the extent of the impact on students.

Best wishes

Charlie