UCLU Postgraduate Association

If you are passionate about:

fees | cuts | privatisation | assessment feedback | library opening hours 

liberation for LGBT, disabled, black and minority ethnic students

student activities | housing issues | course quality

safeguarding the needs of postgraduate students

Then, Stand for Election!

Nominations for the UCLU and PGA October elections are open now, until 5pm Friday 5 October! Why not think about getting involved and running for a position yourself? Find more information about the PGA committee positions here, and more info from UCLU about other positions and rules for candidates here.

12 October 2012

Debate:    6-7:30pm Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre

Fair:    7:30-9pm South Cloisters

The PGA invites new and continuing postgraduates alike to join us at the first ever Postgraduate Politics Debate & Fair. This is an opportunity to get to know the rich political scene at UCL, and meet campaigns and societies you might want to get involved with. We’ll kick off with a postgraduate panel debate about some topical issues in the Gustav Tuck Lecture Theatre, and afterwards retire to the South Cloisters. There, some of the diverse groups active around UCL will set up their stalls and you’ll have a chance to get to know them and find out how you can get involved as well as other meet students over free drinks and snacks (N.B. this is a non-alcoholic event). For those wanting to continue the debate over a beer or a glass of wine later in the evening, we’ll move onto the UCLU Print Room Café.

Debate: Our panel will be made up of UCL postgrads from across the political spectrum, and will be chaired by a member of UCLU Debating Society. This will be a participative debate, so don’t be afraid to get involved from the audience!

Fair: A huge range of political student societies and campaigns will be present at the fair. So whether you’re interested in discussion, activism, or socialising with like-minded types, and whatever your political allegiances, we hope you’ll find something that piques your interest.

For more information, please contact uclu-pga.officer@ucl.ac.uk.

See the rest of our Autumn 2012 welcome events line-up here!

We’ve got a packed schedule of social, cultural and political events coming up to welcome our new arrivals to UCL (and hopefully we’ll see a few familiar faces too!). Keep checking this website and our facebook page for updates. This is only a selection of some events of particular interest to postgrads – the full UCLU calendar can be found at the UCLU website.

Welcome Fair
Thursday 27 & Friday 28 September - 10:30am to 4pm
Quad and Wilkins Building
Find out all about the different clubs, societies, activities and campaigns you can get involved with during your time at UCL. Don’t forget to swing by our PGA stall! Click here for more info.

PGA Reception
Friday 28 September - 4:30 to 6:30pm
UCLU Phineas Bar, 25 Gordon Street
Mingle with other postgrads after the Welcome Fair and grab a drink in one of UCLU’s bars.

PGA Postgrad & Mature Students’ Breakfast
Saturday 29 September - 10am to 1pm
UCLU Print Room Cafe, South Quad
Tickets will be available soon at uclu.org/shop

PGA Happy Hour
Saturday 29 September - 4 to 6pm
UCLU Mullys Bar, Lewis Building
If you missed the reception on Friday – or even if you didn’t! – here’s another chance to meet postgrads over a drink in one of UCLU’s bars.

International Students Forum tea party
Tuesday 2 October - 1 to 2pm
The Study, 25 Gordon Street
Meet other international students over a cup of tea

Fees, Cuts & the Future of Universities
Tuesday 2 October - from 5:45pm
Social Study Space, 2nd Floor, 25 Gordon Street
UCL students and our unions have been a big part of the fight against fees, cuts, debt and privatisation so far. Hear from some campaigners and join this public discussion about what’s happening to universities right now and what we can do about it.

PGA Bike Tours of London
Saturday 6 October - 2 sessions, 10:30am and 3pm
Waterloo
A great way to get to know our capital city! Tickets available soon at uclu.org/shop

PGA Film Night
Monday 8 October - 6:30pm
Darwin Lecture Theatre
Click here to vote in our poll to choose what film we will watch!

UCLU Welcome Members’ Meeting
Tuesday 9 October - 5:30pm
Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 Gordon Street
UCLU is our union, and Members’ Meetings are where we come together to discuss and vote on its campaigns, positions and activities, and hold our elected representatives to account.

PGA Postgraduate Politics Debate & Fair
Friday 12 October - 6-9pm
Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre 6-7:30pm, then South Cloisters
An opportunity to discover the diverse range of political campaigns and societies active on your campus, and find out how you can get involved. We’ll kick off with a public debate, and then move onto the South Cloisters where you’ll be able to meet different groups at their stalls, and carry on the discussion over free refreshments. More info here.

PGA Forum & Quiz
Monday 15 October
Forum: 5:30pm – Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre
Quiz: 7pm – UCLU Print Room Cafe
Our open forums are where all postgrad students have the opportunity to raise issues, ideas and problems and discuss and decide on the campaigns and activities of the Postgraduate Association. At this meeting we will be holding hustings where you can grill the candidates running for election to the PGA committee. At the end, we’ll head over to the Print Room Cafe for a team quiz (£1 entry per person), so bring your friends!

Elections
Elections for various positions in the PGA and UCLU will be occurring over this period. More info is available at uclu.org/elections, and we will soon post details about the PGA committee positions, but here are some important dates. Think about running for election, and don’t forget to VOTE!
Thinking of Standing (info for potential candidates) – 6pm 29 Sept and 1pm 3 Oct, Lewis’ Building
Nominations deadline - 5pm Friday 5 Oct
Voting open – 10am Friday 12 Oct to 10am Friday 19 Oct

Registration is now closed for this exciting event for UCL postgraduates! On Friday 15 June 2012 selected students have two-minutes to talk about their research (thesis/dissertation) in an informal setting with limited visual aids/props.

WINNER takes £200: First Place and cash prizes for 2 runner ups.

Who is eligible to enter?
Anyone who is a registered UCL PhD or Masters student (thesis under submission is OK but no graduates). If you are still debating on your choice of thesis topic, you are still eligible to enter and it might be a good exercise to aid you in your choice.

Why participate?
It’s a great opportunity to build your communication skills, confidence and see what people make of your research when you try to explain it out loud. Plus, you could win £200 for first place or a runner up prize.

Is this different from the PGA’s TEyD event?
We are making slight amendments to last year’s event, including the addition of a PPT slide and the option for you to use a prop!

Can I bring friends and course mates?

Yes, the more the merrier!

See below for  the letter being sent to candidates in the London 2012 Mayoral and GLA elections on behalf of UCLU Postgraduate Association and many other London student unions, as part of UCLU’s wider campaign to defend and extend the rights of part-time PhD students. For more information or if you are a candidate, to make the pledges, please contact uclu-pga.officer@ucl.ac.uk

 The Pledges

1. “If elected, I will vote, work and campaign to extend student Council Tax discounts to part-time PhD students across the capital.”
2. “If elected, I will vote, work and campaign to extend student Transport for London discounts to part-time PhD students across the capital.”

Pledging candidates

(N.B. All candidates listed so far agreed to both pledges, and the Green Party signed all of its candidates up collectively):

Mayoral
Jenny Jones (Green)

Dear London Election Candidates,

We are writing as representatives of London’s part-time PhD students about the discriminatory financial situation facing these students.

PhD candidates are relatively independent researchers undertaking years-long projects that push the boundaries of knowledge and benefit their institutions and society. However, the majority of part-time PhD students are self-funded, relying on jobs held alongside intensive academic commitments, loans, savings and family assistance to pay not only their living costs, but tuition fees on top. In a recent survey at University College London (UCL), where part-time students make up over a fifth of PhD candidates, nearly 80% had no support from commercial sponsors or government or charitable funding bodies. Almost half of respondents were concerned that a lack of funding might force them to abandon their research and leave the university. In contrast, the majority of full-time PhD students are funded, for instance by the Research Councils (though cuts to this funding are also having worrying effects on access to higher degrees).

It is therefore concerning that part-time students are ineligible for the standard student discounts on Council Tax and Transport for London travelcards, which are offered to their full-time counterparts, and indeed these issues were repeatedly (and angrily) raised by respondents to the UCL survey. Criticisms of the situation ranged from “problematic” to “outrageous”. Discrimination appears particularly unfair when the criteria to qualify for these discounts are considered. A full-time course must require at least 21 hours of study per week for 24 weeks per year to qualify its students for Council Tax discounts[1], and “studying or writing up for 15 or more hours a week” for TfL discounts[2]. Part-time PhD students invariably need to study significantly longer hours than this, year-round, and yet they fail to qualify for these discounts on the technicality that they are designated separately to full-time PhD students (who would usually have no other significant work commitments and generally put in much more than a 40 hour week on their research).

These financial disadvantages for part-time PhD students come on top of their struggles to finance their own fees and living expenses, and have significant implications for the accessibility of higher education, for drop-out rates, and for the research outputs of our city’s universities. There are approximately 400,000 students in London, of whom over a quarter are postgraduates. Current and aspiring postgraduate students, their parents, and all Londoners interested in fair, accessible education, will be interested in your position on these issues as a candidate in the upcoming elections. Therefore, we are calling on all candidates to sign up to the following 2 pledges:

1. “If elected, I will vote, work and campaign to extend student Council Tax discounts to part-time PhD students across the capital.”
2. “If elected, I will vote, work and campaign to extend student Transport for London discounts to part-time PhD students across the capital.”

Please let us know your thoughts on these important issues by emailing uclu-pga.officer@ucl.ac.uk or writing to Ben Towse, Postgraduate Association President, UCLU, 25 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AY. We await your responses with interest.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Towse

President, UCL Union Postgraduate Association

Dante Micheaux

Postgraduate Research Students’ Representative, NUS National Executive Committee

Michael Chessum

Chair, University of London Union Senate

NUS National Executive Committee

Sean Rillo Raczka

Vice-President and President-elect, University of London Union

Simisola Smith
Vice-President Academic Affairs, King’s College London Students’ Union

Christopher Hares

Postgraduate Taught Campaigns Officer, King’s College London Students’ Union

Jamie Woodcock

Postgraduate Officer, Goldsmiths Students’ Union

Alex Peters-Day

General Secretary, LSE Students’ Union

Arianna Tassinari

Co-President Welfare & Education, SOAS Students’ Union

James Meadway

Postgraduate Officer, SOAS Students’ Union

Rob Scully

President, City University London Students’ Union

Ben Westhead

President, SUARTS (University of the Arts London)

Manojkumar Iyer

President, Middlesex University Students Union

Claire Locke

President, London Metropolitan University Students’ Union

Robert Tang

President, Graduate Students’ Association, Imperial College Union

Daniel Lemberger Cooper

President, Students’ Union, Royal Holloway, University of London

David Pavitt

Postgraduate Student Officer, Students’ Union, Royal Holloway, University of London

Annabel Jones

Chair, Birkbeck Students’ Union

Shakira Akther

Vice-President Campaigns, University of East London Students’ Union

Photo – Bruno Girin.

As a PhD or Masters student, do you feel there are areas for improvement within your department, or do you feel your department deserves praise for its good practice? Either way, the PGA want to hear from you!

The UCLU Postgraduate Association and the UCL UCU (University and College Union—the trade union for academic and related staff, including postgraduates) are conducting a survey about all types of work that Postgraduate students may do for UCL. This includes paid employment and unpaid tasks which students may do for UCL or their supervisors. Examples of the type of work might include:

• teaching
• administrative responsibilities
• lab supervision
• typing and data entry

To take the survey visit: Postgraduates at Work