At the end of last week, members who have been undertaking the MAB and have module convenor duties started to receive e-mails asking them to make some decisions about scaling modules in advance of exam boards, with an extremely tight deadline. RHUL UCU's recommendation to members is to engage with the scaling process but not to approve scaling.
We recommend members engage because if they do not, Heads of Department and School Executive Deans will have the opportunity to delegate module convenor responsibilities, either to other or themselves, who will then be able to make decisions about scaling without having taught the module this academic year or necessarily being able to comment on whether the module learning outcomes have been met by coursework that has already been submitted and marked. We ask members to engage with the process in order to ensure the preservation of the College's academic standards.
We note that the process of scaling is usually reserved for students who have submitted well-documented Extenuating Circumstances applications. Similarly, the College's emergency regulations offer the option of awarding students an' Allowed' in certain circumstances; an 'Allowed' has, again, typically been reserved for students experiencing grave disadvantages over the course of the year, and enables the student to gain credit for a module without having a mark recorded on their transcript. These provisions exist in the College's regulations in order to be compassionate to students experiencing extreme distress in their studies. To see them twisted to undermine the quality of the College's educational standards is deeply upsetting.
The Branch Committee are extremely concerned about the intense workload pressures these plans thrust on to Exam Board Chairs & Deputies; we registered these concerns with Senior Management Team last week before we had seen the actual proposals. These proposals may also have significant workload impacts for administrative teams and Head of Department. The volume of work created is wholly unrealistic. We remind members that workloads are one of the Four Fights. We also note that these intensified workloads would have been avoided if UCEA, encouraged by its member institutions, had re-engaged in negotiations. The VC and UCU Committee from University of Sussex are the latest parties to publish a joint call for talks. We have invited the Principal to consider a joint statement with us, and the invitation remains open.
A further concerning issue surrounds the lack of accountability for these proposals – not all mitigation documents in circulation have been sent yet to members of Academic Board, whose role is to scrutinise all the academic decisions of this College. The next meeting of AB is Wednesday 7th June.
If you have questions about the MAB, the Branch holds drop-in clinics every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1pm.
Posted on behalf of the RHUL UCU Branch Committee.
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