IT STAFF at a university are facing redundancy - at a time when students are more reliant on computers than ever before due to the pandemic, a union has said.
Workers at the University of Brighton are set to begin a week-long strike over IT staff redundancies with an online picket line on Monday, when the second semester begins.
It comes at a time when students have been having lectures and seminars online due to the coronavirus crisis.
Dr Mark Abel, branch chairman of Brighton University College Union (UCU), said the IT staff redundancies "cannot be justified" amid the pandemic.
He said: "The vice chancellor justifies the restructure of IT support on the basis of a review carried out in September 2019 – well before anyone had heard of Covid-19 or could imagine the scale of our current reliance on IT.
"We work at a university because we believe in the value of education. We do not want students’ education to be disrupted.
"These strikes will, sadly, have a negative impact, but the impact of ongoing reductions in staff levels will be disastrous and we will fight to prevent it.
"The vice chancellor could prevent the industrial action by calling off the redundancies.”
Mr Abel said that under the new plans, teaching staff will no longer be supported by dedicated IT technicians based in schools, but will have to log their IT problems in a centralised system and wait for them to be addressed.
In a video shared on YouTube, Charlie Allison, a senior project and programme manager in the information services department at the university, said staff were informed their jobs were at risk during an online presentation in September.
He said: "It was almost like getting fired by PowerPoint.
"Staff are now being treated as lines on a spreadsheet rather than humans. It’s a worrying trend.
"Information services actually has a triage-type function for when work comes in. Over the last few quarters the workload has increased - and not just with Covid.
"This seems to be almost like an experiment to see whether they can get rid of the first wave of redundancies.
"The joining of schools and centralising of things does seem to make it an easier process for future redundancies that might be coming up."
In November, the university's vice chancellor Debra Humphris accidentally sent an email to a student which the UCU described as "ironically revealing the importance of good IT practice".
The email, intended to be for her personal assistant, said to hold all emails to students who had contacted Ms Humphris about the redundancies, and "ensure they receive a standard reply".
Many students shared a screenshot of the email on Twitter. One student wrote: "The irony at our VC making decisions to cut IT staff when all teaching is online when she can't even send emails to the right people.
"Nice to know she doesn't want to speak to the students she's responsible for."
The irony at our VC making decisions to cut IT staff when ALL TEACHING IS ONLINE when she cant even send emails to the right people🙃🙃
— Rachael (@baylis_rachael) November 19, 2020
Nice to know she doesnt wanna speak to the students shes responsible for#UCUStrike @BrightonUCU pic.twitter.com/rXuRAX22y4
First year students also wrote an open letter describing IT staff as "invaluable" in easing them into becoming "virtual students".
They wrote: "We need living, breathing people available to help us efficiently and share their knowledge – not bots and FAQ pages and overstretched staff with significantly reduced capacity due to job losses and the vastly increased demand that comes with a shift to IT-based education.
"We don’t understand how this can be seen as a viable or sustainable option for the university and the thousands of students who study here - or rather, who study at home via IT systems."
It comes after a series of strikes held at the end of last year over potential job losses, with many students voicing their support for strike action.
A spokesman for the university confirmed 49 staff were subject to a formal consultation with eight staff being made compulsorily redundant.
He said: "The majority of our current IT staff continue to work in the new structure and have already been assigned to new roles, with some colleagues being promoted.
"Regrettably, a small number of roles were no longer required.
"The university recognises the vital role IT provision plays in supporting teaching and learning, especially during the pandemic.
"Our students and staff have told us they want more flexible frontline IT support that can be accessed remotely, which is available at times when they are most needed, and the new model enables this."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel