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subtext issue 114 23 January 2014 ***************************************************** 'Truth: lies open to all' ***************************************************** Every fortnight during term-time. All editorial correspondence to: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk. Please delete as soon as possible after receipt. Back issues and subscription details can be found at http://www.lancs.ac.uk/subtext. The editors welcome letters, comments, suggestions and opinions from readers. subtext reserves the right to edit submissions. subtext does not publish material that is submitted anonymously, but is willing to consider without obligation requests for publication with the name withheld. For tips to prevent subtext from getting swept up into your 'junk email folder', see http://www.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/dejunk/. If you're viewing this using Outlook, the formatting might look better if you click on the message at the top saying 'Extra line breaks in this message were removed', and select 'Restore line breaks'. CONTENTS: editorial; news in brief; changes at ucu; revolving doors; not auguring well; intellectual property; out of office and fed up; dictionary corner; the yanks are coming; library; principally thinking; Mandela day 1; Mandela day 2; zero hours; links; letters. ***************************************************** EDITORIAL It's tough at the top, we're led to understand. All sorts of interesting musical chairs-type shenanigans are going on around Top Table. (See Revolving Doors below.) Lots of new posts are mooted or at least new names for old posts (see Provosts below). The VC sent everyone a long email about it all, which was useful, though it told us an awful lot of what and not so much about why. Reactions down here in the trenches to such changes on Olympus have been mixed – not least because it's hard to discern the agenda. We know the VC doesn't much like Faculties or Deans because he's said so. Fair enough. The apparent downgrading of Deans could mean one of two things; either Departments are to be given more autonomy, in which case hurrah and a chorus of 'for he's a jolly good fellow', or else Departments are just going to be given more responsibility and the actual power will be sucked back to the Centre, in which case boo and boo and thrice boo. We won't actually know which of those two possibilities is true until the day - which might be some time quite far in the future - that the University wants Departments to do something that Departments aren't keen on doing. Then we shall see where the levers of power have been relocated. Let's be clear, some Departments aren't that keen on Faculties and Deans either, but Departments may find that they should be careful what they wish for – whatever else is true, a Faculty is in a sense a 'Trade Union' against the 'Employers' at the Centre. It could be pretty chilly without them – it might behove Heads of Departments to look around now for other Departments with similar concerns and interests and make sure they have their collective ducks in a row, so that when it all kicks off, which it will sooner or later, they can present a solid defensive front. This is not to suggest that the Centre is in any way motivated by anything other than the best for everyone, but it would be naïve to suggest that we will always agree, and a Faculty-less Department standing all on its own will find it very difficult to make its voice heard if the Centre has made up its mind. ***************************************************** NEWS IN BRIEF The annual general meeting of Lancaster UCU on 22nd January 2014 saw some significant changes to the Executive Committee. The President, Alan Whitaker announced his departure and subtext understands that the Secretary, Steve Benner will leave at the end of this calendar year. Both have been at the core of Lancaster UCU for a number of years and their diligence, experience and tenacity will be sorely missed, not just in terms of leadership and their ability to sit through endless protracted negotiations with management but for their tireless work on personal cases – the 'bread and butter' of union representation. ***************************************************** CHANGES AT UCU Alan Whitaker and Steve Benner (see NiB above) leave at a difficult time; when management nationally are being particularly intransigent over pay, and noises within the union are becoming disparate and shrill. It is also a time of increasing UCU membership – both at Lancaster and nationally. Why this should be is obviously a matter of interest. A recent paper by Christine Cregan (see Links below) investigates the impact of industrial action at the workplace on union membership behaviour. Her results demonstrate that workplace industrial action is associated with union joining but has no significant effect on members' leaving behaviour. Within our particular work environment it could be argued that, whilst industrial action is maybe a factor in increased recruitment, people are worried about the future. In terms of pay we are witnessing a growing inequality in the sector. We have undergone a period of tremendous change – undergraduate fees, real term reductions in research income, fluctuations in overseas student numbers and of course the REF. People are insecure - if you are in an academic-related or administrative/technical/managerial role, then the fact is that restructurings and change and cost savings are your day to day experience. ***************************************************** REVOLVING DOORS Following on from the editorial above, some additional thoughts about the proposed management changes. Some might think, and some might even idly wonder if the Academic Registrar might perhaps agree, that the appointment of a Director for Quality Assurance and Enhancement is merely someone there to oversee what should already be taking place, particularly as that role in turn reports to a Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education. Undergraduate and postgraduate levels are to be brought together, again. This has been tried quite recently and found not to work. It is not at all clear what has changed which will enable it to work this time around, but no doubt all will become clear. The creation of the role of Provost pushes the Library one step further away from the Top Table, which should perhaps be a concern to all of us, unless the Provost has an explicit commitment to it. There is justified concern about Lancaster's level of innovation and knowledge exchange, and most would agree that something needs to be done, but it is moot whether the Deputy Vice-Chancellor is the one to be doing it. Most would recognize that he already has quite enough to worry about. There is still no PVC with any specific remit for staff matters, whether academic or otherwise, and of course that Directorship is still vacant, as are a crop of other fairly senior posts. As so often, this includes Marketing. But no doubt as we speak the head-hunters are out doing their customary bang-up job in finding someone to fill the Marketing post. As a service to those doing the search, subtext would suggest that this time around they should look for someone a) with some Marketing experience, b) who left their last post with positive references and not under a cloud of scandal, and c) who has no recent criminal record. We recommend the employment of a literate five year old for about fifteen minutes to make these checks, using the arcane mysteries of Google. The two new Deanships are regular staff turnover, although FASS might be concerned at the quality of who is appointed there, particularly after the fiasco last time that resulted in the reappointment of Tony McEnery. The Health and Medicine Deanship has now been filled, by Professor Neil Johnson, who we agree looks impressive. Yet another new colleague from Warwick. We can't get enough of 'em, can we? ***************************************************** NOT AUGURING WELL We understand that the University does not, at present, have a formal system of inaugural lectures for its Professors - though we note that some Departments do arrange such lectures internally. Should Lancaster not celebrate the arrival of its most distinguished scholars more formally, as many other Universities do? And, indeed, their departures, as exaugural lectures are often a time where colleagues feel able both to speak freely and also to give the benefit of their years of experience of the University? ***************************************************** INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY An interesting email was received by some HoDs recently, part of which reads as follows: 'A (fairly new) university rule requires PhD students who registered from 2011 onwards to submit an electronic copy of their thesis on Lancaster eprints. The requirement is absolute; students will not be awarded a degree if a copy is not deposited. An embargo of up to 5 years (on the electronic copy) can be requested and I have been given to understand (from Geraint Johnes as Dean of Graduate Studies) that a statement of the student’s intention to publish the thesis as a monograph would be sufficient grounds for the maximum embargo to be granted.' Colleagues who are involved with teaching postgraduates will be aware that MA and PhD students are expected to sign a form acknowledging the University's rights over their finished product. This has generally been ignored in non-scientific subject areas, as the assumption is that this form is intended for those who make heavy (i.e. expensive) use of University facilities – laboratories, chemicals, colliders and so forth, but not for those whose only necessary equipment is a personal laptop. It now seems that the University's intellectual property right is to be asserted over all Post-graduate material. The five-year moratorium is intended to allow researchers to exploit their work personally, but unease remains. An obvious problem is the lag in publishing schedules – if a PhD student takes a year rewriting their thesis to get it into a fit state for publication, then spends a year placing it, and then it comes out a year later (and many colleagues will feel that that is a pretty speedy turnaround – it can take a lot longer), then that means that a publisher will only get two years to make back their investment before the eprint makes it available for nothing. It's hard enough placing a book these days; the news that, in effect, copyright on the manuscript will expire in just two years is going to make it even harder. In addition, some publishers' contracts have clauses that this requirement would contravene. It is also true that some theses aren't suitable for eprinting, such as those with lots of copyrighted images. And would this apply to someone who writes a novel for an MA or a PhD? There are other problems that colleagues have mentioned, and we're sure there are wrinkles that we've not yet heard about. At the very least it's a problem. subtext is always aware of the dangers of giving apocalyptic warnings of the effect of certain decisions, and it is probably true to say that the majority of Postgraduate applicants won't be put off by this decision. However, colleagues in some departments – English and History to name just two – are extremely concerned, as anecdotal evidence suggests that if this is enforced rigidly across the board then the number of applications will fall off a cliff. It isn't at all clear that the consequences of this step have been thought through – at the very least, there should be an easily accessed and sympathetic procedure for allowing exceptions. It's an issue that colleagues may feel that Heads of Department should raise in staff meetings, and perhaps even at Senate? ***************************************************** OUT OF OFFICE AND FED UP Are Lancaster colleagues too contrite, too cowed, or just too darn polite? A number of Lancaster UCU members who took industrial action last term set their out of office replies to read 'Sorry I am not available, I am taking part in UCU industrial action' or words to that effect. All very decorous and non-confrontational. Contrast this with the out of office reply posted by one of our striking colleagues from a Russell Group University: 'I am currently working to rule as part of the UCU's work to contract action short of a strike. I am having to take this action, as following four years of below inflation increases, meaning a dramatic cut in real wages, employers in HE refuse to reasonably negotiate despite the fact that: * Our employers had a combined surplus last year of more than £1.1 bn, according to HESA * Our employers are sitting on billions of pounds of reserves, around £10bn (even after the pension liabilities) according to HESA * Salaries for those at the very top have grown to a point where, as The Independent newspaper describes, 'performance seems to have no influence on vice-chancellors' bonuses and benefits.' For more info go here http://www.ucu.org.uk/hepay13 To join the union and the action go here http://www.ucu.org.uk/join' Perhaps in the next phase of industrial action, our Northern reserve could, with advantage, be turned into a more Southern agit-prop approach? ***************************************************** DICTIONARY CORNER It has been announced that, reflecting Lancaster's modern, go-ahead and up-to-the-minute profile, the University is to get a Provost. What, you may ask, is one of them, then? One definition of the word Provost offers 'keeper of a prison', which would certainly be an interesting new direction for the University, what with the castle closing down and all. A Provost was once the member of a monastic community second in authority under the abbot, so we may perhaps infer that the VC wishes to appoint someone to second him in his doubtless taxing spiritual functions. Back in medieval times a Provost was an overseer, steward, or bailiff in a manor. So Lancaster's Provost may be put in charge of collecting rents and so on (and presumably whacking malefactor tenants into the stocks, lopping off their thumbs and confiscating their children). Other more contemporary uses of the term Provost include being the equivalent of a mayor in Scotland. Are we perhaps jumping on the Scottish independence bandwagon, what with Lancaster only being a few days' march from the border? The heads of some Oxbridge colleges too are called Provosts, which might be a nice bit of reflected glory for us. Provosts are also sometimes the head of or leading figure in some American universities – the Provost at Harvard is described as someone who 'manages changes in policies and practices that affect the academic life of the university as a whole'. A bit like a Vice-Chancellor. Confusing, innit? The word's origin is from Latin 'praepositus', meaning 'placed in front', via something in mediaeval French. We shall doubtless see if, in Lancaster, it comes to mean 'a charming anachronism' or 'an unnecessary complication'. ***************************************************** THE YANKS ARE COMING Well, one of them anyhow. The VC has invited the extremely distinguished Professor Andrei Ruckenstein from Boston University (see Links below for more info) to come to Lancaster 'to provide senior capacity and strategic advice concerning research'. ('What exactly do you do, then?' 'Oh, I provide senior capacity...') Apparently the renowned professor has been here before. According to the University website he appears to have spent the 24th April 2012 with us. We say 'appears' because his presence has a rather mysterious edge. Following the links provided reveals a phantom presence – was he actually here on that day? No details are provided. Was he scheduled to appear and did not show? Did events conspire to prevent his visit? The only possible 'double-booking' that we have been able to identify that vaguely mirrors his intended brief at Lancaster, is that the 24th of April was the day the Pentagon announced its intention to set up the Defence Clandestine Service. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Clandestine_Service). But no, it can't be that. Inter an awful lot of highly prestigious alia, Professor Ruckenstein was associate provost (see above) for research, at Boston University. Professor Ruckenstein took the job in 2007, the first person to hold the title. He resigned in June of last year from this position in order to go on sabbatical, and then returned to Boston University as a physics professor. He is to spend the latter half of his sabbatical with us at Lancaster. (Is it possible to imagine any other profession where you 'resign' from your post to go on a 12 month paid 'holiday' [visiting foreign climes] on the understanding that you will return to your previous position on the same salary you were receiving doing the job you 'resigned' from? No wonder we don't deserve any pay increase, we should be doing this for nothing.) His web presence details a very dynamic chap. He is credited with breaching 'administrative barriers impeding collaboration between researchers'. ('What exactly do you do again?' 'I'm an administrative barrier breacher.') According to various commentators, his many attributes include the ability to plan ahead for the long-term future, to think big, to engage in risky research that brings lots of people together to go after a big challenge, to foster new methods and new forms of research, to change the way we do research, to break barriers and to think differently. All sounds jolly exciting. Lancaster has always striven to be at the forefront of whatever discipline mingling there is to be had, so we look forward to Professor Ruckenstein's input. Although we still can't help wondering exactly what actually happened on the 24th April 2012… **************************************************** LIBRARY Subscribers may remember that we have written (subtexts passim) with growing unease about the number of books being thrown out or given away by the library. We learned that the library's standing policy was that if a desirable book was available in e-copy, then it would be bought in that format rather than in hard copy. An additional hard copy would only be bought if specifically requested. It is now reported by colleagues who have made such specific requests that they have been asked for a reason – very politely, they agree, but some feel that this represents another small but incremental step towards a position where the library would in effect be a giant server holding a collection of virtual texts, with a small annexe of hard copies which cannot be found anywhere else. We'd be delighted to be told this isn't the intention. It isn't just us who are worried about this – a recent and thoroughly unscientific poll of students a) failed to find a single one who used only virtual texts; b) found overwhelming support for hard copies (unsurprisingly, ideally in conjunction with a virtual text for maximum convenience), and c) found a surprising amount of support for just hard copies – students who will only use virtual copies if hard copies are unobtainable. It's undoubtedly true that for texts which have high demand and turnover, in other words texts which would previously have been on short loan, e-books are a boon. It is by no means as certain that this can be said of other books which are equally useful but which may not be as popular in the short term. And you can bet that we're only a few years off the day that we see other competing institutions advertising for students with the inducement of 'a large collection of hard-copy texts'. We're maybe shooting ourselves in the foot here, people. ***************************************************** PRINCIPALLY THINKING While it is, of course, entirely appropriate for any colleague to decide that they would like to stand for appointment as College Principal, even if the incumbent is qualified and willing to continue in office, in practice, given the paucity of such volunteers, it would seem rather self-defeating to have two willing and capable candidates fighting it out in a given college when there are impending vacancies in other colleges which would mean that both candidates could be accommodated. There is presently a sniff of such a situation in Bowland, where the incumbent, Joe Thornberry, friend to subtext and Senator of the Year pretty much any year you care to think about, has professed himself willing to stand for re-election, and yet the post has been advertised twice as if it were vacant. While on the subject, we note that Richard Austen-Baker, occasional letter-writer to subtext and something of an agent provocateur when confronted with any situation which appears to be overly – or even slightly – PC in his estimation, intends to stand as Principal of Lonsdale. It's probably fair to say that he would put a highly individual stamp on the College, though we would hope that many of those connected to the College (indeed, all Colleges at any such time) might take an active interest in the appointment. It's a shame that Principals don't have to appear at hustings; you could probably sell tickets for one where Richard was performing. ***************************************************** MANDELA DAY 1 Further to Maggie Mort's letter in subtext 113 and David Orr's subsequent contribution (see Letters below), us old folk remember well the Nelson Mandela Coffee Bar, with its illustrations of the Warhol tomato cans and similar on the walls, and the rather nice view from the window of the tall trees that were axed – literally - to make way for the Library extension. Some of us even remember back in the day when The Nelson Mandela Coffee Bar was the Federation Coffee Bar, known to all as 'Feds'. The décor and coffee were awful then too, though they had a Horlicks machine (hands up anyone who has seen one of those in the last couple of decades), and they mixed a hot Vimto that really worked on cold winter days. The main thing that many people wouldn't recognize now is the fact that almost everyone smoked, so there were cigarette ends everywhere and the atmosphere was always a soggy and acrid fug of steam and airborne carcinogens. The tables were piled high with odd smeared-looking Pyrex cups and saucers that clattered unmistakeably when they were (eventually) cleared away. It was tiny and noisy, it was very grotty, and it reeked of smoke and damp student greatcoats (remember greatcoats?) and burnt toast. But, partly because it was run by the Students' Union so users could congratulate themselves on enlightened self-interest, it was always full to bursting. ***************************************************** MANDELA DAY 2 While we're on the subject of the great man, let's not forget that Lancaster University awarded Mandela an honorary degree at a time when Margaret Thatcher was still calling him a terrorist. Go us! And we shouldn't forget Trevor Huddleston coming here for Lancaster's 25th anniversary and telling us that Mandela was about to be released from prison, which seemed hard to believe at the time. On that occasion at least, you heard it here first. ***************************************************** ZERO HOURS subtext is happy to report the outgoing HR Director's parting remarks regarding employment practices at Lancaster University: the University does not have any zero hours contracts, they are all flexible hours contracts. So, um, that's all right then. ***************************************************** LINKS Our usual service to subscribers. Christina Cregan (2013) Does workplace industrial action increase trade union membership? An exchange relationship approach to union joining and leaving behaviour, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24:17, 3363-3377, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2013.775956 Info re Professor Ruckenstein (see above) is easily found on t'interweb, but this is maybe as good a place to start as any: http://www.bu.edu/news/2007/05/03/andrei-ruckenstein-named-vice-president-of-research/ In the context of the correspondence last term on the subject of 'lad mags', subscribers may be interested in having a look at http://poeticpublicletters.wordpress.com/ - thanks to Cornelia Graebner for that one. The latest survey of top Vice Chancellors by the Times Higher Education magazine is something of an eye-opener on the subject of the pay of those put in authority over us all, at a time when most staff have been getting around 1% for each of the last four years. And this is fun. http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/lancaster-students-threatened-with-heavy-fines-for-appearing-to-be-drunk-9072908.html ***************************************************** LETTERS Dear subtext, To echo Maggie Mort (Letters Subtext 113): both myself and my partner spent many an hour as UGs in the Mandela Coffee Bar, usually waiting for the photocopying queues to die down, the copiers to work or to dash into Short Loan at 1 second past 2 o’clock and fight someone over the 3 copies of the set texts which we had to divide between the 60 students on the course. (Does Short Loan even exist these days? Man, I’m so out of touch with the Lancaster Experience.) The coffee was crap and the tea tasted like coffee and was impossible to tell which was in your paper cup and the service was horrific and the cheese sandwiches tasted like some lino between two polystyrene ceiling tiles…but it was there for us. And it was directly outside the Library. And we'd still be there 4 hours later to start the 6 o'clock Short Loan fight again. Ahh, happy days. David Orr Venue Manager Retail Services ***************************************************** The editorial collective of subtext currently consists (in alphabetical order) of: Sam Clark, Mark Garnett, George Green, Ian Paylor, and Martin Widden.
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