The local UCU branch entered into the Collective Dispute procedure with the University of Exeter on 6 July 2021, following decisions taken by members at two Branch meetings on 26 May and 30 June. There has been a delay to that process over the summer, and branch negotiators are not due to have the next Stage 1 dispute meeting until Thursday 9th September (Collective Dispute Procedure at Appendix 3). On 7 July 2021, the Vice Chancellor told Senators that the Policy will not implemented until completion of the resolution procedure for the Dispute. If any changes are required to the Policy as a result of the dispute resolution procedure Senate will be formally briefed.

In the meantime, we know that you are working to prepare for teaching in the first semester, so the branch officers wanted to issue some guidance on recorded materials and the recording of materials whilst the dispute remains unresolved.

For the avoidance of doubt, UCU is seeking a proper licensing agreement for your performance rights with the University of Exeter for all recorded materials. As yet no such agreement exists. We have suggested an initial licensing period of no longer than one academic year or until the end of resits, which can be extended on an annual basis with the express consent of the performer(s). This licence would restrict the distribution of the recordings to the relevant cohort of students and the licensing arrangements would be suspended during disputes such that performances of employees in dispute cannot be used until the dispute is resolved.

What does this mean as you prepare for teaching in the next semester?

  • You can reuse recorded teaching materials from last year this year. This does not imply acceptance of the terms proposed by the university.
  • You can record your live teaching sessions. This doesn’t imply acceptance of the licence proposed by the university.
  • If you are asked to participate in the recording of Asynchronous Learning Resources (ALRs), since these sit outside the previous RECAP lecture capture policy, we would suggest that you refuse until a licensing agreement is finalised. According to the new proposed Digital Learning Resources Policy these are a new resource, and therefore the production of them is a new duty not covered by contract.