News – Page 19 of 37

UCU Warns of an Extension of Strike Action

22Feb

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

UCU Warns of an Extension of Strike Action

There are plans in motion to escalate the strikes into university exam season in April, May and June. As of February 21, there has been no resolution to the dispute between universities and the University and College Union (UCU) over the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) that would leave lecturers losing an estimated £10,000 to their pension. The General Secretary of the UCU, Sally Hunt, has warned that there is a possibility of strike action being extended if negotiations are not successful in seeking a resolution to the pension dispute. The extension of strike action would lead into exam season, with the potential to disrupt exams for all students, but with a particularly strong impact on final year students. She said that she wouldn’t “rule that off the table at this point ...

Royal Holloway Slammed as “Most Hardline University Employer in UK” Over Strikes

21Feb

By Abbie CheesemanNo Comments

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Royal Holloway Slammed as “Most Hardline University Employer in UK” Over Strikes

Royal Holloway UCU (University College Union) have claimed that no other university in the UK has made such extensive threats to staff over strike action and have called for academics to not be "intimidated" by the College's "short-sighted approach" to the strikes. Letters that academics have received are encouraging staff to give advance notice of strike action - a move that the UCU claim will undermine the principle of the strikes. Academics are also being told that they must give 5 days notice for action short of a strike (ASOS). The notification forms that have been sent to staff suggest that 'working to contract', 'not undertaking voluntary activities', 'not covering for absent colleagues' and 'not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action' may be counted a...

Everything you need to know about the UCU strikes: why and how you can support your academics.

20Feb

By Emma HalahanNo Comments

News

Everything you need to know about the UCU strikes: why and how you can support your academics.

If you don’t need to be persuaded, scroll down for an email template that you can send to Paul Layzell and other members of Senior Management to come out in support of your striking academics and potentially end the strikes sooner. What, when and why are the strikes taking place? The Universities and College Union (UCU) have called for four weeks of ‘unprecedented’ strike action over a deal made by the governing body for universities, University UK (UUK) that would see the average lecturer lose roughly £10,000 of their pension a year in a restructuring of the University Superannuations Scheme (USS). Pensions which are usually paid in by academics each month and then matched by the university, would be tied 100% to the stock market. This means that universities would void their respon...

Students Boycott Principal’s Drinks Over “Sexist” Comments

15Feb

By Abbie CheesemanNo Comments

News

Students Boycott Principal’s Drinks Over “Sexist” Comments

Principal Layzell’s Annual Student Reception is facing a boycott over the comments that he made about the gender pay gap on campus, which were revealed by Orbital Magazine last month. A number of students who have been invited are boycotting the reception unless the Principal apologises for his comments. They are calling for other students who have been invited to follow them in boycotting and calling for pay equality and transparency at Royal Holloway. The drinks reception which is to be hosted on February 19 is usually attended by the Presidents’ of the clubs, societies and media outlets of the Students’ Union, as well as other students who have enriched music or residential life on campus. Despite having the seventh worst gender pay gap at professorial level in the co...

4Feb

By Maria GreenNo Comments

News

UCU Strike Action at Royal Holloway

The University and College Union (UCU) has announced that 61 universities will be taking part in 14 strike dates, beginning with a two-day walkout on 22 and 23 February. The UCU represents over 110,000 people in universities, colleges, prisons, adult education and training organisations across the UK, and is the largest staff trade union at Royal Holloway. 61 universities, including Royal Holloway, are protesting in response to proposed changes to the USS pension scheme: the largest pension scheme for higher education institutions in the UK. The 14 days of industrial action were announced on January 29. The two-day walkout on 22 and 23 February will escalate to three, four and five day strikes in the following weeks (26-28 February, 5-8 March, 12-16 March). On 23 January, the J...

27Jan

By Samantha DavisNo Comments

News

South Western Rail Criticised

South Western Rail has come under fire after allegations that it is refusing to properly staff Egham station. Although the station is frequently busy due to it being the closest rail link to Royal Holloway University and Strodes College, the ticket office has often been forced to close due to a lack of staff to operate it. This disruption caused by the lack of employees has also been exacerbated by the 24 hour strikes that have been affecting this service continually in recent months. Monday January 8, Wednesday January 10 and Friday January 12 saw the station remain unmanned due to a walkout over a long-running dispute over the role of the train guards. One local resident angered by the frequent closing of the ticked office has reported to Get Surrey that “we have enough passengers ...

Sexism Storm Surrounds Royal Holloway Principal

23Jan

By Abbie CheesemanNo Comments

News

Sexism Storm Surrounds Royal Holloway Principal

Royal Holloway Principal, Professor Layzell has claimed the university has a “transparent and fair pay system” despite having the seventh worst gender pay gap in the country at professorial level. Speaking at his last Staff Open Meeting in November, he claimed the problem was instead rooted in the fact there are not enough women going for promotion. In a recording of the meeting obtained by Orbital Magazine, the Principal claimed that “there are certain protected groups where there is a natural tendency to not have a go and put themselves in for promotion - sometimes that’s gender, sometimes it’s the BAME group”. The Principal is facing backlash from his “natural tendency” comments, with one member of staff in the Geography Department telling Orbital that it was “an example of ev...

Plans to build student accommodation in Egham town centre rejected by Council

3Jan

By Maria GreenNo Comments

News

Plans to build student accommodation in Egham town centre rejected by Council

Runnymede Borough Council (RBC) has refused plans to build 105 student accommodation units in Egham. The decision, made on December 6, comes after proposals made in July 2017 to demolish existing buildings and construct student units at 40 and 41 High Street. The accommodation units, which would have housed Royal Holloway students, have been a topic of controversy among Egham locals. Chris Fisher, planning co-ordinator of the Egham Residents’ Association, described the RBC’s decision as a “rare and encouraging victory”. Fisher has previously claimed that “Egham is relentlessly being turned into a further campus of Royal Holloway." The RBC stated that the proposal was refused because of its “scale and height compared to surrounding buildings”, adding that the units would “fai...

Innovative Documenting: RHUL Student Wins Film Award

22Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

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Innovative Documenting: RHUL Student Wins Film Award

A PHD student here at Royal Holloway has been awarded with the ‘Innovation Award’ at this year’s AHCR Research Film Awards. The winners were announced earlier this month, with Iris Zaki’s short documentary Shampoo Summit winning overall. Zaki directed, produced, wrote, edited and filmed the documentary by herself. The documentary was filmed in the Israeli city of Haifa, where Zaki is originally from. Zaki got a job in a hair salon in the city and subsequently placed a camera on the edge of a washbasin so that it would face a customer as their hair was being shampooed by Zaki. Judges said that this was an “innovative technique” to use in this type of filming. Zaki would talk to the clients about a myriad of topics, including but not limited to, Israeli history and politics, general li...

RHUL Historian Awarded Prestigious Prize

19Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

RHUL Historian Awarded Prestigious Prize

Earlier this year, Daniel Beer, British historian and History lecturer here at Royal Holloway, published his groundbreaking book The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile under the Tsars. It is an insight into Russian history and the Tsars’ role in exiling people to Siberia under brutal conditions. The book is meticulously researched and showcases the revolutionary spirit and the regime’s desire to quell it as quickly and effectively as possible. Since its release, the book was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2017, the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize 2017 and the Longman-History Today Book Prize 2017, all of which are extremely prestigious historical and literary prizes. It is an amazing achievement for Dr. Beer to have The House of the Dead chosen. On Nov 17, The House of the De...