As a result of discussion at the ARPS annual meeting in 2022, UCU organised a job evaluation training session in April 2023. This was aimed at members who wanted to better understand the job evaluation process and equip them with the tools to collectively challenge downgrading and grade drift when necessary.
Kevin Ward, ARPS Committee member and Money and Welfare Adviser, part of Students Services at Middlesex University went to the training and reports back on its benefits.
Thanks to those of you who were able to join our open meeting on 4 May. It was great to see you all and hear about your experiences with the current MAB and beyond. Thanks also to Liverpool UCU who set up and hosted the meeting on their Zoom account.
At the Academic-Related Professional Services Staff (ARPS) National Annual Meeting in 2022, we unanimously passed a motion backing People & Planet’s Fossil Free Careers campaign. This motion was then carried at Congress. We agreed to actively work with People and Planet to support the student-led Fossil Free Careers campaign, produce this web statement and support and promote the activities of the Green New Deal.
If you’ve been following media coverage of UCU over the past few years, you’d be forgiven for thinking that we are an “academics’ union” and our only disruptions are to teaching. I remember in a previous institution, standing in solidarity with our academics at a rally as UCU members withdrew their labour over pay, whilst not realising my eligibility to join this very same union, a union that would go on to fight for the pension I was enrolled in at that time.
People & Planet, the UK’s largest student network campaigning on social and climate justice, are keen to work alongside UCU ARPS members on a new nation-wide campaign: Fossil Free Careers.
The campaign seeks to embed sustainability in the operations of UK university careers services in a meaningful way that aligns with the demands of indigenous and frontline communities impacted by resource extraction and climate impacts.
The newsletter for academic-related, professional services staff in higher education:
…and related, spring 2022 [194kb]
The academic-related, professional services (ARPS) staff committee organised a month of activities to boost ARPS membership and ARPS-focused activities in branches.
Branches continue to be encouraged to elect an ARPS rep onto the branch committee, and hold meetings of ARPS members to discuss their concerns, and consider actions that would address them.
Catch up with our month of ARPS-focused activities including a webinar looking at the outcomes of research conducted by Professors Richard Watermeyer and Tom Crick into ‘professional services staff during the Covid-19 pandemic’.
ARPS members of UCU make up around 10% of the membership, yet unlike academic colleagues, they are often dispersed widely across each University and membership density varies across ARPS departments and functions. It can be hard to find allies under these circumstances and to make ARPS voices heard in branches. If you’ve ever shouted ‘it’s not just a lecturer’s union’ at the tv or radio then read on, because there is a way of trying to counter this, raise the profile of ARPS members and carve a place for them in your branches.
The University of Sheffield’s ARPS group was born out of picket line conversations during the 2018 strikes which discussed these very issues. Isolation, confusion over ASOS and the difficulties of striking dominated the inaugural meeting, which attracted around 40 members from a wide range of ARPS roles. These included Heads of Service, Learning Developers and Library staff, amongst a wide range of others. The meetings provided a space to talk through issues, to discuss approaches to industrial action and to better understand the range of experiences across the University. Continue reading