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Original poster

Academics Chat Thread

999 replies

LRDtheFeministDragon · 02/09/2017 22:32

I believe the old Chat thread has fallen off the front page of this section, and I thought it might be time to reinstate it. I know it's only sporadically useful, but sometimes it's nice, right?

I am a lowly postdoctoral English Lit type. Finished my PhD in 2014, teaching associate for a couple of years, and now part-time while DD is a baby. I'm currently working frantically to get my book manuscript to the publisher by my deadline (October), and also trying to regain enthusiasm for the job market.

Who else is lurking around here?

OP posts:
NeverEverAnythingEver · 01/04/2020 10:48

Haha. I am very ungracious. (And yes, I have been told I have an attitude problem. Don't care. Sue me.)

impostersyndrome · 02/04/2020 20:53

Have people seen the news about some universities culling research staff? Nothing yet at my institution, but rumblings that our income will drop, so a freeze on new posts: www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/02/hundreds-of-university-staff-made-redundant-due-to-coronavirus. There’s no guidance I can see on how this fits in with labour law. What a nightmare.

1963mes · 02/04/2020 21:14

I think the article is misleading - they are not culling research staff. They are not renewing contracts when they end (which is anyhow not unusual) and they are no longer using adjunct and zero hours staff, where work has not already been agreed. BTW research staff are usually not paid directly by universities but by research grants; the ball is in the court of UKRI and the Government on whether grants get extensions (or universities get extra QR income) to extend contracts for researchers.

A postdoc is quoted as saying

"university management needs to act now and guarantee two years secure employment at or above current pay for all casualised staff"

How are universities meant to pay out money they don't have? Even imposing budget cuts, freezing positions etc, a number of universities are going to need government intervention and bailouts just so that they don't go under. And given the crash in the stock market USS is in deep trouble and increased pension costs will be inevitable.

impostersyndrome · 02/04/2020 21:27

Yes, I see what you say. I guess the difference is that normally research staff could move into other posts, but with the freeze, very few posts will be around.

ghislaine · 02/04/2020 22:31

I understood that article to be referring mainly to sessional tutors (although I agree it was rather misleading). I have a team of nine, five of whom are on fixed term contracts that will come to an end when term finishes. Same as every year. They are employed to teach and when teaching finishes, so does their employment. This has nothing to do with Covid-19.

I did find my jaw dropping at the demand that all employees on fixed term contracts should get an automatic two year extension. How will this be paid for?

1963mes · 03/04/2020 13:21

I guess the difference is that normally research staff could move into other posts, but with the freeze, very few posts will be around.

I think it's more complicated than that. There aren't, and have never been, enough permanent positions for all early career researchers, so many research staff will leave academia at some point. The main ask of some in UCU is that all staff on fixed term contracts should get permanent positions but this has never been feasible.

With the freeze there could be less posts in some areas, but there will also be growing numbers of posts in research areas directly relevant to Covid. There are targeted injections of cash & in some areas it is a struggle to find researchers to carry out the work.

murmuration · 06/04/2020 14:31

Oh my. I haven't read our Uni emails closely enough, and now I can't find it. We were meant to hire two new teaching fellows for the summer; I hope that's not frozen. We desperately need them. Our teaching team is drowning in the new covid-induced workload, when we already thought we needed two more for the standard load! I remember seeing something about delays or remote recruitment. Please, please let it be remote recruitment, as they could totally get started remotely.

And that's how I'm doing. Drowning in teaching arrangements and admin. My research has completely stopped, despite actually being able to do it from home, had I the time.

murmuration · 06/04/2020 17:17

Cautiously being optimistic - just had a chat with someone in central admin about that position I didn't get three years ago and she sounded quite positive at my chances this time around, and advertisements would come out soon. She even suggested I start putting together an application. (which I'll do in all my spare time....)

impostersyndrome · 06/04/2020 19:27

Good luck @murmuration!

murmuration · 07/04/2020 12:33

Thanks, imposter! Contacted the current post-holder for a chat about the role, and she noted that I'd be a 'great fit' (I didn't mention that she beat me out for it before!). Hope she has a say in who gets it... Trying to not get too excited, as I don't want to be super-disappointed, but it does seem to be looking good.

murmuration · 18/05/2020 22:17

I got it! I got it! I got it!

I am so pleased. It took so long, I had convinced myself I'd flubbed the interview and especially as everyone said I was a perfect fit I figured I had done something just terrible. But either a top candidate turned them down or they were just slow.

I'm now trying to deal with my HoD who is panicking about teaching during the covid crisis and doesn't want to give me any relief for a half-time secondment. Although there is one admin role that is a conflict of interest, which dropping will get me out of a lot of committees, but it would be nice to have a little less teaching. I'm going to try the DoT and see if I can get something that way - not sure if it's bad to go 'under' HoD's head, but in general you'd talk to the DoT about teaching anyway, just that it was a secondment everyone says talk to your line manager...

CatandtheFiddle · 19/05/2020 13:35

doesn't want to give me any relief for a half-time secondment

Patently ridiculous!

Isn’t there money to buy you out? Or workload points?

murmuration · 19/05/2020 14:40

Well, apparently there is money! He's just not telling me. DoT doesn't know what HoD is thinking. He's a big-time research star, and appears to have just gone all panicky about the teaching side that he never cared about before, now that it is suddenly important (not that it wasn't before, but I guess covid just made him finally notice it). DoT very reasonable, and I'm not going to drop anything entirely, but we worked out plans to reduce the workload of the things I am doing. So I can tell HoD yes I'll do my teaching. And DoT may be able to hand somethings off for Sem 2, if we can find a part-time hire (which I'm pretty sure we can). How weird. But nice to know there are some reasonable people around.

ghislaine · 19/05/2020 21:44

Great mews murmuration. A good time to get some teaching relief! A colleague has just won a grant that will buy out his teaching for a year. I couldn’t imagine better timing.

Online platforms are causing me headaches on a daily basis and have increased my workload significantly.

ghislaine · 19/05/2020 21:46

Oh Ffs. News, not mews.

murmuration · 22/05/2020 15:44

Thanks ghislaine! I am now past my initial joy and into the "what have I done?" phase :) There are so many meetings. But I knew this would be the case. There is someone else who took up a similar post just 6 months ago, so after I speak to the person I'm replacing next week probably the next person to go to is her to find out what she would have wanted to know 6 months ago...

92anna · 22/05/2020 18:55

Hello everyone, I hope it's OK to post here. I am doing an assignment for my masters but it's ended up now at the last minute because I've learned it's impossible to study when homeschooling! I really, really don't want to have to ask my supervisor for an extension so I was wondering if anyone knows from their experience if this would be possible - I have four hour long interviews to code and then write up the themes. Do you think I could do the coding tomorrow and start to work out the thematic map, and then finish the thematic map and write up the findings section on Sunday? Would that be possible? I haven't done it before so not sure how long it would take. I don't mind staying up all night on the Red Bulls and having very little sleep! Thank you Smile

YetAnotherSpartacus · 23/05/2020 11:43

I can't answer your question, but I do suggest that you ask for an extension.

What you are proposing just sounds like a recipe for potential disaster to me.

AngelaScandal · 24/05/2020 08:03

@92anna
Ask for the extension. It’s quite possible lecturers have been told to give an extension to any student that requests one. This is out of your control

impostersyndrome · 25/05/2020 17:56

Thats fabulous news @murmuration! Now, stand firm on relieving your duties. No point in overloading yourself, and who knows, it may be someone else’s opportunity.

murmuration · 25/05/2020 20:23

Thanks, imposter. I've got things sorted with the DoT, including a plan for phasing out of some things once we're through this immediate panic time.

ghislaine · 03/06/2020 15:23

Just popping for a moan. I'm in the middle of marking and am throughly depressed at how much plagiarism I am uncovering (though Turnitin). Some exams are taking me over an hour to mark as I am compiling the plagiarism report at the same time. I am really struggling with the attitude of the students, it seems like a massive FU to everything we've been trying to do over the last year.

murmuration · 04/06/2020 13:22

Oh, ghislaine, that sucks. My Turnitin's were great - but my exam is normally open-book anyway, the only difference this year is that they had the internet as well as all their computers.

GCAcademic · 04/06/2020 16:17

Has anyone heard anything about university libraries reopening (or otherwise)? I was quite shocked to hear yesterday that ours isn’t planning on opening until September, and that we can’t request any scanning of readings for autumn modules or purchase of new course books that aren’t available electronically. My colleagues teaching new modules are in despair about what readings they can possibly set. One of them was saying she would have to buy a scanner and books out of her own pocket to be able to provide any relevant readings. I’m also really worried for my MA dissertation supervises who won’t have been able to get into a library between starting and finishing their dissertations.

Deianira · 04/06/2020 18:59

Ours is looking to start reopening at least for some services in July apparently - they are hoping to start scanning things or doing loans by post for research & teaching purposes at that point. There has been a real problem with them acknowledging that won't solve the current issues for PGRs and MA students, however, who can't carry out their research without access to a decent library, so I am also pretty worried about that.