Dear colleagues, I hope you are well and managed to have a break over the Easter long weekend.
There is a lot going on currently across the higher education sector, and at Queen Mary. At sector level, the Government has recently published its alternative plan should negotiations regarding Horizon Europe prove unsuccessful. Do have a look at this plan. At the moment, the most important thing is to keep on applying to Horizon Europe, which remains underwritten by the UK government, in addition to all other sources of research funding. Our research income figures across the University are very strong this year and we hope to maintain this positive trajectory.
In relation to local news at Queen Mary, we held our annual Alumni Reception at the House of Lords yesterday, which was hugely successful. There have also been some fantastic recent successes by our staff – please do have a look at the website for more information.
Industrial action update
As you know, at the end of March we reached an agreement with our local UCU branch. The agreement included a commitment from the Union to work with the University to help ensure our students achieve a high-quality academic experience that allows them to continue to progress and complete their studies in a timely manner. This agreement remains in place, is working well, and demonstrates our shared commitment to our students.
Like many other universities across the UK, we have now been informed by UCU of a marking and assessment boycott, starting on 20 April 2023. This is national industrial action, affecting approximately 145 universities across the UK.
We will monitor the impact of this latest industrial action, noting the local agreement in place with UCU to support our students to progress and complete their studies in a timely manner. We do not accept partial performance and as with previous industrial action, and in line with the latest agreement, we reserve the right to withhold 100 per cent of pay for breach of contract. If we have to proceed to implement the policy of withholding pay we will communicate with staff again before any period of pay adjustments starts. We continue to hope for a positive outcome to this national dispute.
If you have further questions at this stage, have a look at our FAQs or contact your HR business partner.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff for the continuing support you provide to our students. I will write again when there is a further update to share.
Professor Colin Bailey, CBE, FREng, BEng, PhD, CEng, FICE, FIStructE, MIFireEPresident and Principal