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Staff welfare in the HE sector is a ticking timebomb. If you are concerned about the impact of 8 days of #ucustrike action, consider how much disruption to student learning will be caused when this staff welfare timebomb goes off.
https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2019/05/23/new-report-shows-big-increase-in-demand-for-mental-health-support-among-higher-education-staff/ (via @lizmorrish)
https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2019/05/23/new-report-shows-big-increase-in-demand-for-mental-health-support-among-higher-education-staff/ (via @lizmorrish)
The show must go on, students must get their teaching - "it's their degrees and their futures at stake". All these arguments that are being used by those angry with strikers are those that circle around in our heads when we're exhausted and unwell but drag ourselves to work...
They're the arguments that we (both administrators & academics) use to talk ourselves out of 'letting the system fail' when the student administration is woefully under staffed & poorly resourced and students come to our doors begging for someone to help them resolve their issue.
We all know that until we let the system fail, university management will choose not to see what is plain to see. But if the system fails, its the students who suffer. So, we continue, the system creaks on. The university management tells us there are no problems.
University management know they can rely on staff going 'above and beyond' for students. And we know that they know that their creaking and crumbling systems depend upon over-work. You can see it in how scared some are of ASOS and the threat that staff will work to contract.
Irrespective of whether you think university staff are 'deserving' of better working conditions, job security, pay & pensions, the reality is that the system is failing fast. And when it fails, the disruption will be immense.
