Fighting our way through 1st year uni (starting Sept 17)

[HSMMaCM]

Continuing the previous thread.

Exams, assessments, essays, etc.

Support, or lack of it.

Will they all get accommodation for next year and can they cook a balanced meal yet.

Oh that's lovely Horse, Enjoy!

Flying visit to Tonight from DS as he’s off to watch his old theatre group perform. Was lovely to see him and get a big hug. He looks well has lost a stone in weight and apart from the beard looked good.

Lovely visits from DC!

The upside of the strikes is that DD is coming home Mon to Thurs
The downside is that she needs help resetting her sleep pattern as the lack of structure to her week as in no lectures, has messed it up more than it already was!

No-one wants anyone to lose 40% of their pension, but is an additional 14 days of no lectures the only way to do it?

Yeah, wonder what the outcome will be? And how long will it take to resolve?

DD has finished her report writing and I can visit for lunch tomorrow

Dd not come back as she comes back Friday anyway for easter butility got a card and some lovaluable liquer chocolates courtesy of moonpig. Roll on Friday!

Has she had many lectures cancelled RedHelen?

I was coming home from a meeting in London on Friday and bumped into DS at the station, he had decided to come home as a surprise for Mother's Day, he'd even bought a card! Felt like a heel for not giving in and posting the suit though....

No lectures cancelled in Birmingham but it is getting ridiculous now. Are they cancelling lectures for the 'regulated' degrees (the ones where you need a certain level of content to register as a healthcare professional?). I am pretty certain that these are still going ahead where I am based.

He remembered! Lovely un-prompted call and greetings from ds and he reminded his brother who is currently in Australia (where it's not Mother's Day) so DS wins the son points today.

Ono all ds's' lecturers are in the relevant medical union rather than UCU so I think the sort of regulated health degrees you mention are largely unaffected by the strikes.

Are they stupid? In order to be successful through strikes you need the sympathy of students, parents and the general public. That will vanish if they don't engage in talks.

Let's summarise the situation. The union called for serious talks with UUK at the beginning of the year. UUK said there was nothing to negotiate about; that moving from defined benefits to defined contributions was inevitable due to the deficit and that a majority of employers wanted this.

In the past month, we have learnt:

• Projections were based on annual pay rises of 5% and life expectancy increasing by 1.5% per year, both of which are ridiculous. (Pay rises have averaged 1% or less since 2010.) Meanwhile stock market forecasts etc were taken to be very pessimistic. So the deficit is actually nowhere near as bad as quoted.

• There isn't a majority of UUK employers in favour of reducing risk. The % in favour was inflated by counting Oxbridge colleges separately i.e. Cambridge was counted 15+ times instead of once, even though Oxbridge colleges are not UUK employers and many of the college responses (including my own) were personal responses from one staff member rather than official responses (majority of voting fellows).

• Faced with the above, UUK grudgingly agreed to negotiations. At first they said that moving to DC was still non-negotiable - despite considerable evidence from the actuarial scientists in universities that the original figures were crazily wrong. Then they agreed to ACAS arbitration to discuss more seriously - and allowed for 2 hours of negotiation last Monday before withdrawing for their own meetings. The next negotiation was on Thursday, even though the union were willing to meet at any time.

• At this point, a large number of vice chancellors have told UUK to go back to the table and find a compromise retaining DB/preserving pensions. The head of Imperial has offered up their actuarial scientists to cost various options. UUK have not, as far as I know, taken up this or other offers.

Given all of the above, how can lecturers have any faith that serious negotiations will take place, if they now call strikes off? The whole thing is a farce, and one that has (according to an open letter written by the head of a Cambridge college) damaged the world's view of higher education in the UK.

You may worry about your children suffering now - but a few weeks in three years of education is very little. If these changes go ahead, higher education in the UK is going to be decimated. Anyone of any calibre will not stay, faced with a 40% cut in their pension.

Dds lectures seem to have gone ahead I think Horsemad. Did you have a great Mothers day?

I did thanks RedHelen but am absolutely shattered now after a 300+ mile round trip to see my mum today. DS came with me so I had company, except he slept for most of the way there and then again on the return journey

I agree that it is a farce, it has damaged the view of higher education and talks should resume.

a few weeks in three years of education is very little.

No. They get one shot at this and are being used as pawns.

What will happen if they don't 'win'? Will they escalate it further?

The employers and union have apparently negotiated a settlement deal. It is being put to the members now.

www.ucu.org.uk/strike-action

Well - it looks like they are rejecting it.

docs.google.com/document/d/10n4YwP_VyUyr4qxaQDuRiaEUxJtwlSsKpXE7-oeqb4I/preview

Well that looks like a pretty comprehensive rejection
No doubt it was a rubbish offer, and the lecturers deserve to get a pension deal commensurate with the deal teachers have, but yes I too feel that students are being used as pawns.

And it is affecting some really badly and others not at all which seems really unfair - if it affected them all just a little bit... It's not their fault if they are on a course at a uni where lecturers are striking. but I guess not all lecturers are as bothered as others?

Yes they have rejected the deal. On the BBC website a lecturer from Warwick said she would have to be on strike continuously for 11 years to lose as much money as she would from the proposed pension changes. It seems like USS has miscalculated and that the pension hole isn't as big as they have suggested.

You'd think they'd have checked, double checked and triple checked the figures, wouldn't you?!

Also DS's student finance seems to have 'auto-renewed'. Anyone else experienced this? He hadn't yet applied but it has come through saying it has been approved for next year

Snap! He has to sign the letter and return to action it I think?

DD applied and got her letter yesterday. She has more maintenance grant thank goodness.

DD says she has some forms for student finance that we could do whilst she's home over the Easter hols.

Of course I said that's fine - but an auto-renewal would be nice to have!

She was making dumplings last night and hoping they'd work out.

Hoping her dumplings don't out her as she often warns me not to disclose too much on social media!

Did your DC do anything to get letters/emails re Student Finance or did they just come?

If they are on the minimum loan, do they just renew that?

Juggling love the idea of your dd being outed by dumplings. For my dd it would be waffles