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ISSUE 758. MARCH 8 2004
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STRIKE LOTTO No assessment - no graduation
AUT strike threatens graduation 2004 By Anna Hodgekiss News Editor STUDENTS WILL not graduate this summer unless AUT lecturers are allowed back into negotiations over pay and conditions, staff warned this week. Graduation 2004 is under threat after 81 per cent of lecturers voted to boycott the marking of students’ work in the next stage of the AUT strike. As of Monday March 1, AUT members have abandoned assessment-related work in a protest against pay and conditions. The move follows the breakdown of talks between the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and the University and Colleges Employees Association (UCEA).
Lecturers who belong to the AUT union are now refusing to mark any coursework or set any exam questions. And with AUT membership varying between departments, a subject lottery has emerged. Those departments with very few or no AUT members are unlikely to be affected, with assessment continuing as normal. But students in heavily dominated AUT departments will receive no further assessment until negotiations re-open. To date, the biggest direct impact on students has been the cancelling of lectures on February 23 and 25. But the latest move in the pay dispute now presents a threat to the excess of 5,000 Cardiff University students set to graduate in July and the student body as a whole as they progress to the next year. The boycott begins during the week
that graduation packs have been sent out to all final year students. One week on, and the ramifications are becoming clear. One ENCAP department was due to submit its summer exam questions last Monday to be proofed, before the final Academic Registry deadline later this month. None have been written. University AUT staff are now urging all students to write to the vice chancellor Dr David Grant, urging him to avoid the potentially catastrophic effects of the action. Since the boycott began, the AUT has also encouraged students to approach VCs and ask them to grade unmarked coursework. Dr Grant has this week posted a university-wide message on the electronic notice board explaining why the University supports the boycott.
Boycotting follows a week of lecture cancellations up and down the country, and has left a sour taste in the mouths of many students. One final year student told gair rhydd, “I do understand the reasons behind the action and agree that lecturers deserve better pay. “But things have gone too far now, and it’s not fair on the students who have worked for at least three years to have this hanging over them in their final term.” Despite the potentially devastating effect on students, the NUS has backed the boycott. President Mandy Telford told gair rhydd last week, “The NUS will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with our staff and lecturers up and down the country.” It emphasised this week that students should not be angry with lectur-
ers, because their contracts are with the institution itself – not individual lecturers. AUT general secretary Sally Hunt said, “My members are not doing this because they want to hurt students, but because they have no choice.” The Union also claims that accepting the current offer would result in lecturers losing £6,300 over eight years. Academic-related staff - including senior librarians and information services staff - are also involved in the boycott. Call-out cover, job appraisals and working for absent colleagues have all ground to a halt along with the negotiations. Students wishing to protest to the University should write to the vice chancellor, Dr David Grant in the Main Building, Park Place.