Anxieties of a finalist amid UCU strike chaos

Holly Downes

As the UCU strike action is underway (yet again), I always get nightmarish flashbacks to my first term in Durham in 2020. It is a year we all would rather forget about; the year stolen by the Covid-19 pandemic and the year that betrayed us all. I naïvely thought I would be immersed in the Durham fresher lifestyle – busy lecture halls, college bar crawls, and of course, Jimmy’s –but every lecture was via Zoom, and I was forbidden to socialise with people outside my ‘house bubble’, and nightclubs only reopened in my second year. Admi edly, not the most enjoyable of all times.

But it seems that history is repeating itself. Although the pandemic and UCU strikes are vastly different – funnily enough, striking lecturers don’t stop me from going to Jimmy’s – they both disrupt the continuous education all students deserve. When lecture timetables are released at the start of the academic year, we all have visible contact hours and details of when and where our lectures, tutorials, or seminars are. Some have more hours than others – as a humanities student, very li le indeed - but nevertheless, as feepaying students, contact hours are crucial to claim what we’re all here for. That is, a degree.

That means no lectures, no office hours, no seminars -

In the pandemic, these hours were just moved online, but strike action means these allocated times simply disappear. On strike days, which will impact 44% of epiphany term alone, lecturers don’t work. That means no lectures, no office hours, no seminars – nothing. And as a finalist, I am slightly (well, extremely) concerned. It means I will miss several two-hour seminars that are the springboard for the two 3,000-word essays required for the module. Lectures that cover topics that will appear on my exams in May will not be delivered. My dissertation, which is due at the end of this term, will be affected by infrequent emails and meetings that clash with strike days. And to make ma ers even worse, my final year is weighted at 60%.

And this is the very purpose of these strikes: to reinforce how crucial university staff are for a functioning university education. The essays and exams that determine my final grade will not be of the highest standard without the help of lecturers. Instead, I fear that I’ll have to teach myself half the module and write important essays blindsided. The staff are the backbone of the system, however, because universities are run like businesses – operating on the profit-maximising model – staff are mistreated to ensure the university gets richer. They are underpaid and overworked, so, they must use their bo om-up power and withdraw their contributions to the university to spark change.

so out of control. These questions that float around my head will only be answered if the university representatives strike a deal with the UCU. Staff and students alike can speak up, protest, and strike to give voice to this mistreatment, but it is down to the university to put an end to all this. Yes, the university can mitigate the impacts of the strikes, as detailed in an email from the Pro-ViceChancellor on the 27th of January: “No student will be disadvantaged in assessments and examinations as a consequence of industrial action”. But this fails to solve the issue at heart. No one deserves to have their education disrupted, pay reduced, work in poor conditions, and have their pension cut because of money-grabbing institutions.

they pay thousands of pounds for. And the culprit – large university institutions - are bombarded with deflated students and angry staff Education should not be this disruptive, but when injustice is occurring, staff simply aren’t going to stay silent. Instead, they are going to march through the streets of Durham carrying signs, stand in large groups outside the Bill Bryson library and talk to students, and get what they rightfully deserve.

Education should not be marked by anxiety and fear. It should be one of enjoyment, growth, and a system where all involved are treated with respect. Instead, universities are abusing their top-down power and making it harder for education to be what it should be. Finalists, like me, now live in fear that if a marking boyco is called, my dissertation will not be marked. 12,000 words on a topic that I’m interested in –a Word document driven by pure brainpower, determination, and passion - poured down the drain. And I am scheduled to graduate in July; but how can I graduate if lecturers refuse to mark my work that completes my degree? Is the degree I specifically wrote a UCAS le er for in year 13, the degree I am passionate about, and the degree I have worked towards for three years, now worth…

How can I graduate if lecturers refuse to mark my work that completes my degree?

And it is saddening that it has come to this; it is unfortunate for everyone involved. Staff are forced to spend long days (made drearier in the winter months) demanding justice and aren’t even paid for the days that they strike. Students are refused contact hours that