**Updated 30 March – Our local union branch is currently balloting its members about whether to accept the proposal, which will take a few days to complete. We will update you all as soon as possible once we have the response.
Thank you to everyone who attended the Industrial Action Student WebChat on Friday 25 March. Missed it? You can view the recording online.**
From Professor Richard Reece | DVC Education and Student Experience
Today is the first of five days of national strike action by members of the University and College Union (UCU).
The strike is scheduled to run from today (Monday 28 March) to Friday (1 April). Not all areas of the University are equally affected.
We continue to meet with our local UCU representatives to discuss how we can help resolve these ongoing issues and bring an end to the industrial action here at Kent.
Meanwhile, teams across the University have been working to minimise as far as possible any disruption the strike might cause you and your studies. There is information about this on our webpages, including how you can keep up to date with any planned disruption to your studies.
Background to the industrial action
UCU has called the action over national-level disagreements over pensions and over pay and conditions. The action will affect a number of universities around the country. You can read more about the background on the student webpages.
What the strike might mean for you
It is probable that this week:
- lectures or other timetabled classes may be disrupted or cancelled at short notice;
- research activities could be cancelled at short notice;
- other University services you use might be affected
UCU members are not obliged to tell us whether or not they will be working on the strike days so we will not know in advance what the level of disruption will be. However, we will share with you on Moodle any specific information we receive, and we recommend that you check your online course groups and your emails frequently to keep up to date about any changes that might affect you.
You can keep a personal record of the impact of the strikes on your teaching by using the Kent Union Academic Experience Reporting Tool.
Support for students
Wherever possible, we will work with staff to prioritise essential student support services so that these remain in place throughout the industrial action.
We have dedicated student support webpages where you can find details about the support available to you, and contact details of sources of help should you need it.
I want to thank you all for your patience during this unsettling period, and to assure you that we are doing everything we can to bring this national industrial action to an end here at the University.
We will keep you updated with any developments during the strike.
Goodwill payments
We will be distributing money not paid as staff salaries during the strikes to students based on the amount of disruption to each student caused by the strikes. We are currently working through the information we have about relative levels of disruption to students across the University and we should be in a position within the next few weeks to begin distributing that fund. I will keep you updated on that.
Marking and Assessment Boycott
As I mentioned in my email on Friday, I hope to have a positive update early this week on the local marking and assessment boycott. As soon as we get news, I will be in touch again.
With all good wishes,
Richard
Professor Richard Reece | DVC Education and Student Experience