Heriot-Watt JISC Digital Experience Surveys

Heriot-Watt University have asked that we share this with our networks to improve staff and student engagement with the JISC Digital Experience Survey.

Why participate?

The survey is an opportunity for staff and students at Heriot-Watt to provide feedback that will help shape our digital future. By participating you will help with:

  • Transforming and enhancing the digital experience for both students and staff
  • Establishing baseline data and monitoring year-on-year improvements
  • Identifying gaps in provision and providing targeted support
  • Benchmarking our progress against national standards
  • Demonstrating enhanced levels of engagement and responsiveness to the student voice
  • Informing future investment decisions

All you need to complete the survey is 15 minutes of time. Click on the relevant link to start. Please note that there isn’t a survey specific to researchers so we would ask you to complete the one of the two more relevant to your role. For most but not all academics this will probably be teaching.

Professional services staff: digital experience insights survey 2023/24 – Heriot-Watt University

Higher education teaching staff: digital experience insights survey 2023/24 – Heriot-Watt University

The survey is designed so that no identifiable characteristics are asked for or gathered. The data is collected at University level only. The data will not be attributed to specific Schools, Institutes or Departments. Questions are optional. It is recommended people answer questions as honestly and openly as possible, however there is no obligation to answer all questions in the survey – you can still submit your response.

Keffiyeh on campus

The UCU Palestine solidarity group will be running a stall on the bridge link between main reception and the Hugh Nisbet Building on Wednesday 27 March 2024 from 10:00 to 15:00.

Join us to learn more about Palestinian history and culture, sample Palestinian dates, and much more.

There will be a group photo at 15:00 outside the main reception. Wear your your Keffiyeh, or the colours of the Palestinian flag in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

 

Ceasefire NOW!

UCU joins with many others in Palestine, the UK, and beyond to reiterate the demands for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, unrestricted access to humanitarian aid, and the lifting of the siege of Gaza.

We call on all UCU members to sign the parliamentary petition calling for a ceasefire and to end Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Academic freedom and free speech

UCU is aware that some of our members have been targeted for speaking out about the events in Israel and Palestine, and that this targeting has unfortunately often been racialised. UCU has clear policy in defence of academic freedom; if you have been targeted in this way please contact your local rep or regional office for support.

Michelle Donelan’s Statement to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee

For clarification, last week I publicly withdrew all of my concerns and without admitting liability, £15,000 was paid to settle the case and save any costs associated with a protracted legal dispute, which would have been significant, even if of course the department had won that case.

The legal expenditure was approved by my department’s accounting officer. While I always err on the side of transparency, I am now clear in this case I could have sent the letter in confidence to the UKRI in order for them to undertake the investigations privately. And I do apologise for not having done so — and for any distraction this decision has caused for this government’s positive agenda.

-Michelle Donelan

UCU recommend voting YES to pension benefit recovery proposals

In 2022 our employers forced through cuts to the USS pension scheme using a very dubious valuation conducted in 2020 at the height of the covid pandemic. These cuts would have led to a reduction of guaranteed income in retirement of up to 35%. We were told at the time that it absolutely necessary to maintain the long term viability of the the scheme and the decision could not be reversed.

Thanks to members taking action to oppose these cuts our employers have agreed to restore benefits and recover what has been lost.

Negotiators for UCU and our employers’ body Universities UK (UUK) have issued a joint statement with a plan for pension full benefit restoration back to pre-April 2022 levels by 1 April 2024. The plan should also see a cut in member contribution rates plus a flat rate payment for recovery of losses between 2022 and 2024. The trustees of the scheme have calculated that this is sustainable for at least the next two valuation cycles (6 years).

UCU consultation on RECOVERY OF LOST BENEFITS 2022-24

UCU members are now being consulted on the proposals for benefit recovery i.e. what was lost in the meantime. The consultation closes at noon on Friday 20 October. Please check your inbox for your unique online voting link. This will describe in detail what you are voting on. The higher education committee (HEC) is recommending that members vote YES (agree) to accept.

The most recent reminder containing the vote to link was sent from yoursay@ucu.org.uk on 12 October 2023 with UCU member consultation on recovery of USS benefits in the subject line.

USS Employer consultation on RESTORATION OF BENEFITS

A separate USS member consultation has been launched by USS on the improvement of benefits back to pre-April 2022 levels. This will close on 24 November 2023 and UCU are encouraging members to respond as soon as possible. It is still important that you make your views about the proposed improvements known.

If you have not already responded please check for an email from Staff Update at Heriot-Watt which contains comprehensive information about the proposed changes and a link to the Employer Consultation Website. The email from staffupdate@hw.ac.uk was sent on 15 September 2023. The subject line is Notice of statutory consultation on behalf of the Universities Superannuation Scheme. Please contact hr@hw.ac.uk if you have not received yours.

Pay and working conditions

We are very close to achieving a result in a pension dispute but we still have a long way to go on fair pay and working condition. Don’t forget to vote Yes to save higher education in the ballot to renew our mandate for further action so that we can put pressure on our employers to come back to the negotiating table. If you haven’t received your ballot paper please request a replacement using the form at https://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/ucuRISING-ballotupdate before midnight on Sunday 29 October.

 

Have you voted Yes to save higher education?

On 14 August the UCU’s higher education committee (HEC) voted to launch a ballot for further industrial action in the ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.

The ballot closes at 5pm on Friday 3 November. If you have not received your ballot paper please request a replacement using the form at https://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/ucuRISING-ballotupdate before midnight on Sunday 29 October.

Why should I vote?

Taking part in industrial action works. We got our employers back to the negotiating table in the pension dispute and a statutory consultation on improved terms has been launched which should see the scheme on a more stable footing with benefits restored back to pre-2022 levels and members compensated for benefits lost in the meantime.

This only happened because members took action to prevent the shameful attempt to steal their pension benefits through a flawed valuation conducted at the height of the pandemic.

We need to keep fighting now to secure fair pay and tackle working conditions. Our university vice chancellors and senior management have been taking huge salaries and inflation busting pay rises while our members have seen pay cut by 25% in real terms since 2009 as they struggle to deal with inequality, job security, and the stress of ever increasing workloads.

It is more important than ever that you use your vote so that we meet the threshold which legislation requires, no matter which way you vote. If you haven’t voted, please vote now.

Heriot-Watt is on strike for fair pay and working conditions

Monday

Our employers may consider the 2022-23 pay negotiations to have been concluded with the imposed national uplift, but we do not. It fell far short. The 4-Fights dispute over fair pay and working conditions will continue until the Vice Chancellors use some of the record income that the sector is generating and the piles cash on which they are sitting to address the erosion of everyone else’s pay apart from their own and tackle the issues of excessive workloads, inequality, and insecure contracts.

We are on strike because we care passionately about our students, our stakeholders and research partners, our local community, and the environment. Our senior leadership team are failing to deliver on Strategy 2025 and the key performance indicators by which they should be judged. Staff and student satisfaction is at an all-time low, student to staff ratios are increasing, teaching and research facilities are inadequate, and our support systems are a shambles. These failures are reflected in our rankings and failures to secure funding. Shamelessly executive pay has increased, and it is the same up and down the country. It is the experience which should be rich, not the fat cats at the top.

You can help make it better. Support our staff. Support our students. Save the planet. Support the strike!

Strike action confirmed for week of 25-29 September

A big thank-you to all of the local members who were able to attend the online EGM yesterday and contribute to the discussions and vote at such short notice. The meeting was quorate and the vote was overwhelmingly in favour of continuing the strike action, consistent with the branch position at the end of August when members voted in favour of using the remaining mandate for strike action.

It is the beginning of a new session and no-one wants to be on strike but we need to hit our employers hard in order to force them back into negotiations over pay and working conditions. The only way to do this is with a complete withdrawal of labour. We will be standing with UCU members from branches up and down the UK as well as colleagues from Unite and Unison who remain committed to collective action as a means to secure fair pay and working conditions across the sector.

Picket line

The picket will form 8.00am each morning at the main gate and there with a group photo opportunity at 10.00am.

Strike Pay

Members will be able to apply to the national fighting fund for days 3,4 and 5 of the strike. We will take a vote to the branch members to enable the local hardship fund to be used to support members for days 1 and 2.