Employment

Union takes on management over ‘academic annex’ reforms

University staff have been offered a 0.5 per cent pay increase for the next academic year – far below unions’ claims for a salary rise in excess of 3 per cent.

Academic opposition to outsourcing at the University of Sussex is building, with staff from ten schools, departments and research centres publishing statements supporting protests at the institution.

Strikers are fighting ‘charter for managerial radicalism’, says academic

‘Race law’ cited in imposition of reductions

Black and ethnic minority academics still suffer racism, study finds. Elizabeth Gibney reports

Unions fear job losses will fund institution’s lofty research ambitions

Salaries for full-time faculty members at US colleges and universities are slowly recovering after years of below-inflation rises, although higher education institutions are increasingly reliant on part-time staff, a report has revealed.

Australian academics should not be contractually bound always to split their time equally between teaching and research, the vice-chancellor of the University of Adelaide has said.

Three unions at the University of Sussex have begun the process that could lead to strikes over outsourcing plans at the university.

Scholars downplay regional accents to avoid prejudice, Newcastle University study shows

With a few exceptions, vice-chancellors’ remuneration did not rise vertiginously in 2011-12 - a good thing politically. But are they still paid too much compared with their peers?

REF factor may explain growing wage differential

Jonathan Hart was in two positions at the same time - literally

A Jewish academic who claimed the UCU’s policy on Palestine constituted harassment has been rebuked by an employment tribunal for misusing the legal process

Unions representing higher education staff are asking for a pay rise in 2013-14 that is likely to be worth more than 3 per cent.

All threatened strike action at the University of Birmingham has been called off after the University and College Union reached an agreement with the institution’s management over compulsory redundancies and performance management.

Campaigners at the University of Sussex plan to host a national demonstration against privatisation in higher education.

Nancy Hopkins identifies remaining obstacles to gender equality

Sian Lawson extols the virtues of independence from the academy

A university research manager suspended over his prior conviction for the bombing of the Israeli Embassy has been told he can return to work.

A document that aims to bridge the gender leadership gap in higher education worldwide has been officially launched at an international conference.

Academics at post-1992 universities are less happy about levels of management control than staff at older institutions, a study has found.

Union says changes will lead to demotion and pay cuts. Jack Grove reports

London Met’s Steve Jefferys says he did nothing wrong in employing Jawad Botmeh

Department head Jenny Saul tells Paul Jump what she is doing to combat the bias against women

Management pledges to tackle ‘stress-inducing’ culture. By Elizabeth Gibney

Two planned strikes over compulsory redundancies and performance management at the University of Birmingham have been called off.

Campaign fights West of England proposal to scrap courses. Elizabeth Gibney reports

But registrar insists management is on the right track

NUS finds ‘illegal’ pay conditions in some universities. Elizabeth Gibney reports

Unionised academics at the University of Birmingham have voted to strike over threatened compulsory redundancies and “aggressive” management tactics.

Unison promises to counter any attempt to dismiss duo

Image consultant: ‘jumble sale’ dress code does not an intellectual make. Matthew Reisz writes

Institution aims to make job adverts globally understandable

Managerial staff one of few growth areas in HE employment

A student occupation at the University of Sussex is gathering momentum with more than 100 people signing a statement supporting its aims.

A campaign group calling itself Sussex Against Privatisation has occupied a floor of the Bramber House conference centre at the University of Sussex.

Institution says students will be safe as it considers moving or closing specialist department

Around 70 protesters gathered outside the University of London’s Senate House today to campaign for better rights for outsourced university staff.

White applicants are three times more likely to get a professorial post than black and minority ethnic ones, a new report suggests.

Academics at the University of Birmingham will be balloted over strike action in protest at what a union has described as the institution’s “campaign of forced redundancies and aggressive management tactics”.

A new report from the American Historical Association provides fresh evidence of the impact of marital status and gender on academic careers.

Staff turn down enhanced offer to stay within national bargaining unit. Jack Grove reports

Effort to halt male bias on event panels sparks controversy. Elizabeth Gibney and Paul Jump write

The UCU is a democratic, future-facing endeavour proud to fight for both the one and the many, Sally Hunt affirms

One academic’s experience of coalescing institutions was not a positive one, largely owing to a lack of forethought or consideration

UCU set for tough talk over resources and strategy, general secretary Sally Hunt tells Jack Grove

Remuneration of Russell Group v-cs up as pension allowances approach ceiling. Jack Grove reports

It’s tough for minority academics, as evidence of discrimination attests. David Matthews writes

With radical changes causing discontent across Europe, Susan Bassnett wonders if UK scholars are justified in feeling so aggrieved about their lot

Toby Miller did not take a straight path into academia - far from it, having been, among other things, a DJ, a ditch digger, a speech-writer, a bureaucrat, a security guard and a merchant banker. He reflects on how his atypical trajectory shaped his views of the insular scholarly world

‘Probably the most significant medieval historian’ rounds on absentee students. Paul Jump writes

Unions protest over transfer of academic support services to external firm. Jack Grove reports

University efforts to make it easier to remove fixed-term staff anger unions. Jack Grove writes

A sociology lecturer at the University of Birmingham is at the centre of a redundancy row that could lead to industrial action among the institution’s 1,000 University and College Union members.