A response from your Exec to PGR concerns

This year, LUU made it a priority to improve the representation of our PGR community by introducing the first International and Postgraduate Officer role at LUU. We recognise the need to improve our understanding of the PGR experience.

After reading the UCU manifesto on recognising PGRs as staff, we wanted to respond by providing more opportunities for PGRs to easily contact the LUU exec. It’s our job to work out how to best represent all PGRs as your students’ union, and we understand that there is still more to do and we want your ideas, opinions and feedback to inform this.

To help us represent you we set up continuous consultations and a survey at the start of this semester to hear the views of PGRs across the University of Leeds, and we now recognise how varied the experiences of PGRs are (e.g. part-time, full-time, self-funded, funded, non-teaching, teaching, etc).

The survey and consultations shows that many PGRs want LUU to support UCU’s strike action, and the majority of respondents in the survey agreed with UCU’s strike action. Out of the 61 respondents to the survey, 43 disagreed with LUU’s stance on strike action, 9 agreed, and 15 were neutral. It is clear that many PGRs are disappointed by the lack of solidarity with the staff at the University and are concerned about teaching staff being underpaid and treated unfairly.

Of the respondents who supported the stance or were neutral, they felt that strikes have had a lack of impact, that strikes are not in the student interest, and they could understand the frustration of some students. In the survey we also asked about UCU’s PGR manifesto, of which 53 respondents agreed with, 8 did not agree with, and 7 were unsure. The survey also showed that some of the main concerns among respondents were pay and conditions, impacts of the pandemic (mental health issues, loneliness, running out of time/funding), and feeling ignored by both the University and LUU. Some respondents identified how positive their experience had been and how they felt valued.

If you would like to read the full survey results analysis which includes valuable qualitative feedback then please contact the LUU Academic Engagement Team at uniasup@leeds.ac.uk.

We are continuing our conversations with both UCU and the University, and we will continue to work with PGRs, PGR reps, UCU, and the Doctoral College to address issues that are being raised.

The results from our survey have been sent to the Senior Leadership Team at LUU and have been included in the Graduate Board report for further consideration at the highest levels of the Union and the University. These results will also inform and influence our current PGR offer at LUU through things such as PGR rep support, and prioritisation within groups such as our Academic Engagement Team.

We want this work to be continued after we leave our role in June, so we will ensure that this is included in our handover to the next Student Exec officers. We will also review current LUU policy ideas to reflect on whether we feel PGR interests are being articulated clearly in these.

At LUU we want to support all our members, and our Help and Support Team offer expert advice for free to all University of Leeds students, in person, online, or by email. Help and Support is available in the Union building during term time Monday-Friday, 9:30am-5pm, and Saturday-Sunday, 12pm-6pm. You can also call 01133801400 or send Help and Support an email at advice@luu.leeds.ac.uk.

If you would like to speak to us or give us any feedback please feel free to drop into the Exec Office (Level 1 in LUU) or send us an email at:

Nicole Jimenez Mogrovejo | International and Postgraduate Officer | n.a.jimenezmogrovejo@leeds.ac.uk

Meg Hodgkinson | Education Officer | m.hodgkinson@leeds.ac.uk