On Thursday 19th October, representatives of the Cambridge UCU Justice 4 College Supervisors (J4CS) campaign met with representatives of the Colleges, University, and the Office for Intercollegiate Services (OIS). Present at that meeting:
Cambridge UCU: Max Long (Research Fellow, Jesus College), Lydia Richards (UCU regional official), Matthew Lloyd Roberts (UCU Postgraduate Rep), Emily Sandford (UCU Casualisation Rep; Research Fellow, Caius College).
Colleges, University and OIS: Richard Anthony (Chair, Bursars’ Committee), Judith Bunbury (Associate Secretary, Senior Tutors’ Committee), Malcolm Millbrook (Deputy Head of OIS), Bhaskar Vira (Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education).
Joint Statement
Following consultation with the J4CS campaign, both sides agreed on the final wording of the Programme of Work developed by OIS. This clearly lays out a framework for both sides to resolve the outstanding issues raised by the campaign, as well as a set of deadlines. The Programme of Work was subsequently approved by the Senior Tutors’ Business Committee on Monday October 23rd, and will be circulated publicly.
We further discussed the planned joint survey of undergraduate supervisors. Following its approval by the Senior Tutors’ Business Committee, and pending some small modifications by various parties, this is on schedule to be circulated at the start of Lent Term 2024.
The principal topic of discussion for this meeting related to the campaign’s demand for a transparent, rigorous, and sustainable formula for calculating hourly pay for undergraduate supervisions. We agreed that any pay proposal should involve a calculation of hourly pay that is pegged to the University of Cambridge pay spine (including annual increases), and is matched to a suitable role profile.
Discussions about further details, including hourly multipliers that take into account admin and preparation, are ongoing, and we agreed to dedicate the next meeting (scheduled for Nov 9th) to these questions.
> Download the statement as a pdf