On strike days, those members of staff who are choosing to participate will not be working. The impact of this will vary across Schools, with some facing minimal or no disruption. You should assume that your teaching is taking place on strike days unless you are specifically told otherwise. We have seen in the past that most teaching goes ahead as normal. 

 

There may be picket lines at some of the major University entrances on strike days. This may involve small groups of staff with banners and placards speaking to people about the dispute and handing out information about the strike.  Most University staff will be working on campus as normal and you should not be at all worried about walking past the picket line.

We do not know in advance as colleagues do not need to disclose if they intend to take part in the industrial action.

It is really important to note that not all members of staff take part in industrial action, so you should attend all scheduled activities as normal, including online sessions, unless you have been advised otherwise by a member of staff. 

You can ask your individual lecturers or tutors about their plans, but please understand that they do not have to provide you with this information. We also recommend that you regularly check your University email, the UoR Student app and this webpage for the latest information.

If teaching does not take place on a strike day, please let us know using the report cancelled teaching form.

If this happens, you could consider using the room and the time to review materials on Blackboard independently or with your classmates.

We anticipate that other services and facilities like the Support Centres, the Library, and cafes will be open as usual. You should attend any appointments with teams such as the Student Welfare Team, Counselling & Wellbeing, Disability Advisory Service, Careers etc as planned, unless you are notified in advance that these have been re-scheduled.

Services in Halls will also be unaffected.

A range of measures will be used to make up for any cancelled teaching, and this may include rescheduling teaching where the timetable allows.

Specific arrangements to cover any cancelled teaching and materials will be coordinated by your School as they understand the impact on individual modules best, and they will communicate these to you directly if your teaching activity is cancelled.

Any classes that are rescheduled will appear on your timetable but you should also monitor your University email, the UoR Student App, Me@Reading and Blackboard for further information.

A range of measures will be used to make up for any cancelled teaching if teaching cannot be rescheduled. These could include, for example, combining cancelled classes, providing materials for you to review independently, or providing online asynchronous teaching sessions.

Specific arrangements to cover any cancelled teaching and materials are being coordinated by your School as they understand the impact on individual modules best, and they will communicate these to you directly if your teaching activity is cancelled.

You should also monitor your University email, the UoR Student app and Blackboard for further information.

Instead of the usual Exceptional Circumstances process, we have set up a specific process called the Impact of Strike on Academic Performance (ISoAP) process. If you feel you have been academically disadvantaged as a result of this action, find out more about the ISoAP process.

If your submission date falls on one of the strike dates, you should submit as scheduled.

Given the timing and duration of the strike action, we do not anticipate major impacts on your ability to complete assessed work. Decisions on any possible submission extensions for dissertations or projects will be determined by each individual School. Please contact your Academic Tutor or Head of School to discuss these arrangements.

If you are unable to do this, or you feel your dissertation or project has been impacted by the industrial action, you can bring the issue to the attention of your School using the Impact of Strike on Academic Performance (ISoAP) process.

Instead of the usual Exceptional  Circumstances process, you should use the Impact of Strike on Academic Performance (ISoAP) process that has been set up specifically to address any academic impact of the strike action.

If you paid to travel to campus on a day of strike action and all your scheduled teaching that day is cancelled with no prior warning, please complete our travel claim expense form where you can submit a claim to be reimbursed for these travel costs.

We will ask to see evidence of the costs incurred, or details of mileage where applicable with information about your journey. We recommend that you wait until the end of the current action (after 30 November) to submit one claim for multiple journeys, if required.

The closing date to submit a claim for costs incurred is 29 March 2023.

If your class or practical is cancelled on a strike day, please let us know using our online form.

Members of staff will be asked to prioritise marking of coursework at the end of the industrial action period, and we anticipate that they should meet the 15 day turnaround deadline. If you have any questions, please speak to your Module Convenor, Academic Tutor or Head of School.

Instead of the usual Exceptional Circumstances process, we have set up a specific process called the Impact of Strike on Academic Performance (ISoAP) process to ensure students are not academically disadvantaged as a result of this action.

If you do not feel the University has sufficiently mitigated the impact of the industrial action on your studies tell us via the complaints form.

Please do first consider speaking to your School about the arrangements they have put in place, or using the Impact of Strike on Academic Performance process, where appropriate.

Where a number of complaints are received about the same missed teaching, they may be considered together. In exceptional cases where our complaints process finds that there has been significant personal disruption to an individual despite the University’s mitigation efforts, compensation may be an appropriate remedy.

The University is not intending to offer compensation as a matter of course, as our focus is on mitigating impact in a variety of ways outlined above.

The majority of University employees will not participate in strike action and there will be Schools and Departments where impact is minimal. This means we anticipate that most classes will go ahead as normal on strike days. Other services and facilities like Support Centres, the Library and cafes will also be open.

Where there is impact, the University’s first response will be to minimise this and make up for lost teaching in a variety of ways. Schools are working hard to identify the most appropriate way to deliver teaching or materials for any classes affected so that students’ learning is not unreasonably affected. This may include rescheduling, combining missed classes with other classes or providing materials for you to review independently, or any other measures appropriate to the subject or material.

If students consider that they have been academically disadvantaged in an assessment as a result of strike action, we have set up a separate process for reporting this called Impact of Strike on Academic Performance.

If you do not feel the University has sufficiently mitigated the impact of the industrial action on your studies, there is a complaints form for you to use. Please do first consider speaking to your School about the arrangements they have put in place, or using the Impact of Strike on Academic Performance process, where appropriate. Where a number of complaints are received about the same missed teaching, they may be considered together. In exceptional cases where our complaints process finds that there has been significant personal disruption to an individual despite the University’s mitigation efforts, compensation may be an appropriate remedy.

If you have questions that we have not answered here, please email StudentFirstResponse@reading.ac.uk.

We understand that some students may need additional support at this time, including some with disabilities or specific learning difficulties. If this is the case, please talk to your lecturer or your Academic Tutor/supervisor as soon as possible so that we can understand your concern and identify what action needs to be taken. If you are unable to contact your lecturer or Academic Tutor please speak to a member of staff in your Support Centre, Henley Help Desk or the ISLI admin office.

If you have been affected by the strike action, please discuss with your School Director of Postgraduate Research Studies in the first instance, or the Graduate School. If you are undertaking taught modules as part of your PhD Programme Specification, and you have been academically disadvantaged as a result of the industrial action, you can notify us through the Impact of Strike on Academic Performance process.