Graduating students - Nothing will be marked?

[Askil]

Can anyone clarify what's happening? Are all graduates this yr not going to have their coursework and final dissertations marked? I also heard universities will determine their degree based on current work i.e yr 1 and yr 2?

OR is that there will be a delay in marking these pieces of work and they will get their classifications a bit later than usual?

OR
That will just graduate will no final yr marks?

Also, is a blanket policy across ALL universities?

Not blanket afaik. Some supervisors marked submissions before the boycott or are delaying.

In the University I work in, there is a small number of students in specific subject that will be affected by the MAB. Contingency arrangements mean most final year students will graduate as usual, but a handful will not know their degree classification until later. Your University’s webpage will have all the information.

Definitely not a blanket policy as my dd has just had her dissertation mark this week. All her mates on other courses at their uni have also received their marks as well as friends at other unis.

Relieved to see some have got their work marked.

@HeadNorth Do you know where on the uni website it will be?

Go on the website and search for Marking and Assessment Boycott

Thanks @HeadNorth Found it! doesn't look good. What a shame, hope they come to an agreement with UCU soon.

They would need to get back round the table and get talking for that to happen.

I know, just completely sad for my dc who is amongst the graduants. He worked so hard on the last 3 coursework he had and his dissertation. the first two pieces of work he did for his final yr were quite low in marks, so if they decide they're going to somehow make up their degrees from scores they've already got that would be awful. Yrs 1 and 2 were great though but they don't normally include yr1.

I work in HE and our University has established some exceptional regulations for this situation. However as I understand it if the student is unhappy with any calculated marks they are awarded rather than actual marks then they will be able to turn them down. But then they may not graduate this summer which isn't ideal. I know our website has all the info, faqs etc.

@BeeandG Can you explain how your university will 'calculate' the marks?

At my uni Head of Departments are being asked to ask other colleagues to mark instead, obviously not many will do this. There is no guidance from anyone on what we should do. It hasn't been decided but some suggestions are bringing forward marks from earlier assignments, at least temporarily. Students are asking but we have no idea.

I don't know why this isn't making more headlines in the papers at the moment. It's awful for the university staff with their current pay and conditions but -speaking as a parent of DS1 who almost definitely won't have his dissertation and exams marked in time to graduate - I am so so upset on his behalf and for his friends too. Some will lose the possibility of taking up offers of Masters degrees elsewhere, based on degree class. International students, who pay even higher fees, won't get their visas extended as they can't register a degree class and graduate properly.

At DS1's uni. students appear to be being 'fobbed off' with a pseudo, fake 'ceremony' passing for 'graduation' so that families and students are supposedly placated, without fully realising that the students aren't actually graduating at all. If and when their exams are marked (and there's no certainty that they even will be), they'll then get a certificate through the post and that would be the genuine 'graduation' which is very disappointing, particularly for this cohort who missed out on so much of university life due to the pandemic.

At unis. like DS1's, where there's almost no continuous assessment and it all goes on the final marks in the degree and dissertation, the effect of not having their hard work marked and possibly just being given an 'estimated' degree is very upsetting.

Whilst DS1 is very calm and OK about the whole thing, many of his cohort have struggled with mental health problems and fought hard to keep on track with their revision and exams, survived the pandemic and being sent home to study, worked non-stop for their exams and dissertations - only to discover that their efforts have been in vain, if their exams aren't marked.

It's so hard a as parent just to have to sit back and watch, without being able to do anything.

Meanwhile DS2 - at a different uni. - is going to be able to graduate properly as his uni. is getting others to mark the exams. There seems to be lots of difference depending on which university and which faculty.

It's not a blanket ban it seems.
Dd has had her final assignments marked, though some friends in other departments haven't as yet.
Not sure when she will get her final classification but they were told by the university it could be delayed, but that wasn't department specific.

It's all a shambles, isn't it? I also don't understand why there is not more about it in the news or making headlines. The media is too busy with the likes of Schofield and Mizzy! I wonder whether there are any protests going on? I'm surprised how quietly the students seem to be taking it. If there was ever a time for 'Revolution!' this is the time.
Every single university undergraduate should join together and protest outside Downing street. I'm so angry for them.

@Askil I too have no idea why students aren't protesting about this when you think of the other issues that do seem to merit their dissent.

@Qilin it's the disparity across not just universities but faculties and even colleges from what I hear (DS1 is at Cambridge) that makes it even more confusing and unfair.

I wish that each university would publish the list of subjects that weren't going to be marked and those that were and of the former, which would be allotted an 'estimated' degree class and which would receive a real degree class.

I think if they are not going to mark, we should know by now what 'algorithm' they are going to use to award grades/ degrees classifications? surely each university knows by now whether they are ever going to mark or not.

It's a complicated situation.
Not everyone is in the union so non union members will continue to work and mark as usual (and reap the benefits gained by industrial action). Some members are in a minority and their participation in the boycott will not be noticed as others will pick up their work. Some are marking and delaying uploading the grades. A minority of people will be fully involved in the boycott. Some universities are paying external staff to do marking (visiting lecturers, recently retired staff etc). The reality is that most students will have their work marked although it may be delayed by a few weeks.
The onus is on employers to ask staffs intention to participate in the boycott and to plan their response accordingly. As my employer only asked my intentions last week they're obviously not in much of a rush to make arrangements even though the boycott was announced last year. This, for me, typifies the employers attitude towards staff and students. Students are cash cows and staff are there to be exploited and ground down.
Very reluctantly, I will be going against my union, and marking. This is only because my employer has announced 100% pay deductions for participating in action that does not make up 100% of my workload. This threatening behaviour combined with a refusal to pay the nationally agreed pay rise does not make for a pleasant working environment. Would you work 50+ hours a week whilst being paid for 37? I am going to be kind to myself and only work the 37 hours I am paid for and this will mean delays in marking. It will get done but only when I am being paid to do it. My years of goodwill have gone.
Collective action by large numbers of students isn't much of a thing any more but we have a lot of support from students because they can see how we struggle to do our best for them.

@Iworkformeanies Your post is quite insightful and thanks for posting. I didn't understand this bit, my employer has announced 100% pay deductions for participating in action that does not make up 100% of my workload.

If the strike action is about increase in pay how does it not make up 100% of your workload? Thanks for trying to do your best by students and for the ones you are marking, even if they are delayed at least they can be released once things settle down. How did we get to this even? education in the U.K has always to my understanding, been highly prized and prioritised I say as compared to the rest of the world. If we cannot pay our teachers/lecturers properly and fairly how can we provide a quality education for the next generation? if I had my way, teaching would be one of the highest paid professions in the U.K on par with Doctors/Lawyers.

I'm with the OU (although not in my final year). I've had two modules this year. One tutor has already marked my final assignment and it's waiting for the release date, the other hasn't been marked as the tutor is on strike. I don't know if someone else is going to mark it or whether it won't be marked. I also don't know how that affects my next module, communication has been pretty poor to be honest.

I agree with pp that it really is a shambles. I dont pretend to understand all the detail of the dispute but am horrified that we have reached this point and the employers aren't even negotiating. The fact that the impact is so uneven almost makes it more unfair as those like my DD who look likely not to have their work marked will be utterly disadvantaged in terms of jobs and further study against those who do get a grade. It's a disgrace.

I have written to my MP and she is raising it with the Dept of Education. I have also expressed my concerns direct to the university and to the UCEA, the employers association. It may well not do any good, but I have to feel I'm trying. Maybe if lots of us do this and start making a noise it will push both sides to negotiate sensibly?

My DS works for the OU. If it is any consolation their communication with tutors is pretty bad too. She's switched from striking to not as she feels so bad for her students.

Sorry, I could have been clearer. At this time of year marking takes up about 40% of my time and this is the only part of our work that we are boycotting. I am still supervising postgraduate research, teaching, working with external employers, attending meetings etc. but if I take part in the marking boycott I get paid nothing. Admittedly my employer is a particularly punitive and not everywhere is doing this but it's an indication of how HE staff are treated. If I'm on strike I accept losing 100% of my salary because I'm refusing to work but if I'm still undertaking 60% of my duties that's not fair!

Just to add pay is only one of the issues we are in dispute over. For me, workloads are more important. I'm top of the Senior Lecturer scale so £52,000 and If my workload was more manageable I'd be ok with that. A lot of my colleagues are not on that and will never get there. Far too many people are on short term, part time contracts and don't know if they've got a job from one year to the next. It's shit.

I do have sympathy with the lecturers, but this action is damaging the students, potentially leading to lost post graduate opportunities as well as the stress caused by the lack of recognition and reward for all their hard work. I personally think final year marking should have been excluded from the boycott. These students don't get another chance at this.

I do have sympathy with the lecturers, but this action is damaging the students, potentially leading to lost post graduate opportunities as well as the stress caused by the lack of recognition and reward for all their hard work. I personally think final year marking should have been excluded from the boycott. These students don't get another chance at this.