www.thecourieronline.co.uk Monday 23 November 2015 Issue 1321 Free
FALLOUT 4 Revolutionising gaming p.36
The Independent Voice of Newcastle Students
PARIS ATTACKS Various views on the
impact of terrorism p. 10
Research policy prompts protest
Est 1948
DURHAM LUMIERE Photos of the festival’s best
light installations p. 22 Image: Mark Sleightholm
Staff asked to meet new research targets through Uni’s ‘Raising the Bar’ initiative Students and staff launch campaign against ‘outmoded’ policy By Antonia Velikova News Editor
Students are preparing to rally and stand behind members of staff to oppose the ‘Raising the Bar’ initiative, claiming that it will be detrimental to student progress and experience. The main arguments that students have against the initiative are that it will be detrimental for staff to be following an educational process which is focused on achieving certain targets, instead of concentrating on long-term ways to improve teaching and research. “Pressures to produce more research are at the heart of this initiative, with additional pressures on increased teaching to come with the new Teaching Excellence Framework,” according to a statement issued on the Newcastle University Students Against ‘Raising the Bar’ Facebook page. “At Newcastle University as elsewhere staff are already working more than the hours in preparing teaching, doing teaching, marking submissions, taking part in public engagement and impact activities, contributing to the administration of the University, and crucially doing the researching and writing which is vital to the kind of research-led training which distinguishes Newcastle as such a rich and excellent environment for both undergraduate and postgraduate students alike. Yet, Raising the Bar is asking them to do even more.” MA student Beth Watt is the face behind the Facebook page. Speaking to The Courier, she explained the implications of Raising the Bar on Newcastle University and why students should offer support to staff on this important issue. “Essentially what the issue is, and what we’re protesting against as students, is that the initiative doesn’t only have a negative effect on our education, but also upon the lives of those who provide it. If the lecturers who teach us are expected to pull in vastly higher sums of money in research grants, they’re either doing more work outside
of paid hours, or sacrificing work in other areas, such as teaching or preparation,” she explained. “The obvious result is that they get less time to put together modules, to give pastoral care to students, and to participate in public engagement and impact activities, but what’s paramount is the concern that this additional and extraneous pressure will in turn impact negatively on their lives, their careers, and their mental wellbeing.” Initiatives like Raising the Bar are already in place in several public services, like the NHS, and are being run in some universities in the country. Newcastle University staff, and the students who support them, believe that the initiative places pressure on staff to perform and that holds many risks to both their teaching quality and mental health. “Raising the Bar has created huge levels of stress and upset amongst academic staff across all three Faculties,” a member of University staff, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Courier. “Newcastle University undertook a survey on staff stress levels several years ago and the results showed that many staff were experiencing high levels of stress - well, it has just multiplied that by a hundred times over. “Staff are already working 60-70 hours a week - and now they are being set targets which will require them to work 100+ weeks. This is simply not tenable - and the bottom line is that people will leave. In droves.” Being a part of the Russell Group, Newcastle prides itself on the quality and amount of academic research, and its implication in teaching modules. A spokesperson of the University commented: “Over recent years the Higher Education sector has become far more globally competitive, where the various league tables and rankings now have a greater influence on students, the sponsors of our students and staff who want to work here. “Unfortunately, Newcastle University’s position in some of the world Continues on page 5
Divestment Week urges Uni to go fossil free, p.2