Justice for Julie!
STRIKE ENTERS THIRD
spineless
Strike Bulletin: Day Three
24th February 2020
Spineless has had some rather
disingenuous comments on its
Facebook page in recent days,
seeking to delegitimise some of
our reporting. Oddly, all of the
commenters taking aim at
Spineless were candidates in the
LUSU sabb elections.
George Nuttall (re-running for
President) and Atree Ghosh
(running for VP Union
Development) complained about
an article where we had pointed
out them leaving a (livestreamed)
meeting caused it to become
inquorate. They insisted the
meeting was already inquorate.
Among their arguments was that
each Disabilities Officer, which is
a jobshare, only counted for half
a person in terms of attendance.
Taylor Donoughue-Smith
(running for VP Societies and
Media) believed we didn’t do our
due diligence in writing the
article on the third white head of
LU Ghana in a row. He believed
we should have contacted LUG
Student Representative Council
for their take (if anyone has an
email for them, let us know).
What Spineless has heard is that
LUSU are scared of what they
can’t control. Recent events seem
to prove that.
We can be found online at
www.spineless.uk, and we can be
contacted via email on:
spinelesslancs@protonmail.com.
DAY AS EMPLOYERS
DITHER AND DELAY
The University and College Union (UCU) strike action at Lancaster University
and across the country is entering its third day, as employers dither and delay in
response to efforts to establish a meaningful dialogue – as Steve Bradley told
Spineless a couple weeks ago: ‘It takes two to talk.’
Last week, UUK consulted its members on whether to make a new offer
to UCU. 84% of its 111 employers did not want a new offer. Meanwhile, UCEA,
headed by our esteemed former vice-chancellor Mark E. Smith, has refused to
back down on pay negotiations. Smith told THE that the current offer ‘pushed
[universities] to the edge financially’. Are we sure that’s to do with staff costs,
and not things like the £300 million capital expenditure programme he instituted
at Lancaster?
Friday 21st February was student-staff solidarity day, and speakers at the
picket line included Cllr Jack O’Dwyer-Henry, who represents the ward on the
City Council, Bee Morgan, who is the LUSU education sabb, and Anna Oakes-
Monger, who heads community union Acorn Lancaster and Morecambe.
UCU members and comrades retired to the Gregson for a teach-out on
postgraduate precarity, where some astounding stories were heard about the
issues postgraduates and postdocs face, truly the last concern of University
management but one of the key reasons for the strike action. Plans are for a post-
strike manifesto-building session at the Gregson for postgraduates on 16th March
at 6.30pm.
LUSU SABB HUSTINGS
DURING STRIKE
The LUSU sabbatical officer hustings are to take place on 2nd March, during the
UCU strike. The decision runs counter to a motion passed by hundreds of students
at the AGM in October to 'fully back industrial action taken by Lancaster
University staff'.
The decision to put hustings on a strike day means that LUSU staff (who
are supposed to carry out the political decisions of the union) as well as any
existing LUSU officers running for re-election will be scabbing and breaking the
policy by attending and organising the election hustings.
The most egregious effect of this decision will be to exclude an important
and frequently under-represented segment of LUSU membership: postgraduate
students who are UCU members and on strike. Striking students who cannot cross
the picket line will be unable to attend or ask questions at the hustings. If they
watch the live stream or recording, they will be crossing the digital picket line.
This is to say nothing of the impact on media reporting of the hustings.
The staff-run unofficial publication subtext produces famous LUSU hustings
reports but will be severely handicapped in doing so this year if the hustings are
on a strike day.
The decision comes as Lancaster University's 'Big Conversation' for staff
on the climate emergency has also been scheduled for later today, a strike day.
Spineless understands this scheduling conflict has been raised with University
management who have ignored concerns.
 a management serious about tackling institutional
3rd white man in a row inequality.

made head of Lancaster Dereliction of duty?

University Ghana The Downings Saga
Lancaster University Ghana (LUG), one of the
In 1995, at the height of its financial crisis, Lancaster
University's several international campuses, has
University bought a 1930s art deco house on the edge of
announced the appointment of its third Provost since it
Bailrigg Village (along the cycle path towards town)
was opened in 2013. LUG is a partnership between
called The Downings. The news broke at the start of 2020
Lancaster University and the Transnational Academic
that this property, left derelict by the University for a
Group.
quarter of a century, is to be knocked down to make way
When Prof. Malcolm McIver took up office in
for new, luxury visiting lecturer accommodation.
January, he became the third white man in a row to head
Granted, Lancaster University in 2020 has far
up Lancaster's Ghana campus, succeeding Prof. John
bigger problems than how it disposes of one minuscule
Grainger (2013–17) and Prof. Anthony Jarvis (2017–20).
part of its estate that it isn't even using. Indeed, The
This is indicative of the extent of institutional racism in
Downings is a derelict property. It would cost substantial
British higher education – recent figures indicate that
amounts of money to refurbish it, especially for use by
there could be as few as zero black academics in the most
visiting lecturers. But why did Lancaster take 25 years to
senior leadership roles in UK universities.
make that decision?
LUG's new Provost had a successful career in the
The house was bought for £200,000 in 1995. By
healthcare industry before entering academia and building
up extensive experience in international education. From March 1996, the property was being let to postgraduates,
2004–2015, McIver worked at the University of and by September Lancaster was planning to sell it.
Hertfordshire, and for almost 10 years was responsible for Minutes of an Academic Planning Board in 1995 indicate
coordinating their Southeast Asia projects. He has also the official line was it had been bought to consolidate ‘the
spent two and a half years as Bournemouth's Associate institution’s long-term interest in the area to the north of
Dean for Global Engagement, and he worked for two the campus’.
years as an 'education specialist' at LeapEd Services, a The Downings was left derelict by the University
social enterprise in Kuala Lumpur with a mission to to rot and become uninhabitable. However, there is
promote 'child centred education in Malaysia.' nothing to suggest this was done nefariously, per se. The
The LUG campus is based in the upmarket East University has constantly changed personnel over the last
Legion district of Accra, home to 'distinguished 25 years, and its priorities have shifted, particularly as
personalities like parliamentarians, diplomats,
higher education has become increasingly marketised.
internationally-acclaimed athletes.' When it was
Horizon scanning is not always as efficient as it might be.
established in 2013, LUG had just 67 students, which
grew to about 500 in 2016. The current campus In 2019, Pro-VC Dame Sue Black declared the
masterplan includes the ambition for the student University's 'firm commitment to our city and region.'
population to grow to 4,000. Spineless hopes that this commitment will mean there are
The annual intake is 60-70% Ghanaian, with no more, quite literal, 'derelictions of duty' on the horizon.
international students from across West Africa, but also
the UK, Spain and India. LUG currently offers eight
undergraduate degrees, and two postgrad degrees – an
Executive MBA and an MSc Management.
An undergraduate degree costs $9,000 a year
(less than £7,000), considerably cheaper than the £9,250
UK students have to pay annually to study at the Bailrigg Every day of the strike, Lancaster UCU is hosting
campus. Despite this, it is ranked as the third most a teach-out at the Gregson Centre, from 12:30pm
expensive university in the country. to 2pm.
As the Bailrigg campus continues to be hit by
industrial action over the University's failure to tackle Today’s teach-out is ‘Collegiality and
issues such as the racial and gender pay gaps, the Managerialism’ delivered by Nils Markusson.
appointment of yet another white man to head up
Lancaster's West African campus hardly seems to indicate