The consultation period in respect of the measures outlined in the Vice Chancellor's 17 October announcement 'Course Rationalisation, Staff Redundancies and Financial Sustainability' concluded 14 November.
Staff feedback was received via a broad range of consultative mediums. Feedback received included both opposition and support for the measures, concerns about possible course closures, and suggested strategies to mitigate potential redundancies. Strategies staff felt should be considered included more effective utilisation of our existing teaching capacities, a reduction in the use of sessional, contract and casual staff, and alternative separation strategies, such as voluntary redundancies, pre-retirement contracts and a voluntary early retirement scheme.
Feedback from staff has been considered and the University is committed to mitigating the impact of possible redundancies by reducing its use of non permanent staff where appropriate. The extent to which we can do so will be determined by the skills and experience required to deliver our continuing educational programs.
The feasibility of offering alternative separation options is currently being examined by our HR department and agreed measures will be announced as part of detailed Change Plans for the three categories of staff, HE Academics, VE/FE teachers and General staff. Timings are set out below.
Higher Education Change program
Further work is being conducted over the next few weeks to determine non viable HE courses and units, the HE academic positions that maybe excess to requirement, and the mitigation strategies. It is the University's intention to announce these details in a HE Academic Change Plan in early December.
The planned timeline is to:·
- Advise all staff on 8 December which HE courses and units are proposed to be discontinued.·
- Begin a two week consultation process from 8 December to further discuss proposed course and unit changes.
- Advise affected academic staff from 8 December in writing, and wherever possible in person, of the intention to make their position excess to requirement.
- Undertake a two week consultation process with affected staff from 8 December to discuss mitigation strategies and the available separation options that apply to them.
- Advise staff of the outcomes of consultation processes relating to both courses and units and staff redundancies.
The process of identifying savings in VE and FE has also commenced and is examining both the viability of courses and units and the effective use of existing resources. We expect to have a clearer indication of the proposed savings measures by mid- December.
Meetings are planned with the managers of corporate and support services in early December to discuss the principles and processes to be used in determining the scope of savings measures for General staff.
A benchmarking exercise will also be conducted to identify better practice in the field of corporate support structures to inform decision making processes.
More information on change plans for VE/FE and General staff will be announced over the next few weeks.
Lionel Newman
Project Manager
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment