QUB students may not be awarded degrees this year
- Published
Some students will not be able to graduate at all, QUB's vice-chancellor says
About 1,200 Queen's University Belfast students may not be awarded their degrees as planned this summer.
According to the university's vice-chancellor, 40 will not be able to graduate at all while many others may not get their final degree result.
One student affected said they were now worried about their future.
The uncertainty is due to industrial action by some staff in the University and College Union (UCU) which includes a boycott on marking and assessment.
But members of the UCU at Queen's have also been angered by the university's response to the industrial action.
A UCU spokesperson told BBC News NI they were "furious that it has reached this point".
Industrial action
Members of the union at universities across the UK have been engaged in long-running industrial action over pay, working conditions and pensions.
That has included a number of strikes by some staff at universities across the UK, including in Northern Ireland.
But as part of action short of strike in the dispute, some UCU members are also taking part in a marking and assessment boycott.
That means they are not taking part in things like invigilating exams, marking exam papers or attending exam boards.
Exam boards are important meetings where students marks on their degree courses are finalised and confirmed by lecturers.
'Unable to graduate'
In a video message, the QUB vice-chancellor said that the graduations of up to 1,200 students could be affected by the marking boycott.
"As a result of this action some students across all year groups will be affected," he said.
"Today I want to focus on the approximately 1,200 final year students who will be affected this summer.
"Despite our best efforts we expect that this will result in approximately 40 students being unable to graduate.
"We will meet with this group directly."
Students may not be awarded a degree with a title or result
But hundreds of other final year students have been told that where all their marks are not available they may get a degree without a title or a grade.
BBC News NI has seen an email sent on Thursday to final-year students in the school of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP) at the university.
It said that while a graduation ceremony would take place on 30 June, students may not be awarded a degree with a title or result.
One student affected told BBC News NI that the news had left "everything up in the air".
"We'll just be given a piece of paper that basically says we did a degree and we will not know when we will find out when we get our degree," they said.
"It's all very up in the air and the communication is ambivalent and poor."
The student also said that that they now felt worried about their future.
"I don't know coming up when I'm applying for jobs how that will affect that," they said.
"It makes the degree pointless in so many ways.
"I was so excited for the graduation ceremony, I had family members coming over and it's just taken all of the excitement out of it."
"With the Covid pandemic we were online for a year and then strikes the last two years."
"There's been little to know recognition from the university about that and then for this to hit at the end it's just completely awful."
'Conflict of interest'
But some members of the UCU have accused the university of banning them from exam board meetings which decide marks for students.
An email to staff from Prof Ian Greer said that if staff were taking part in the marking and assessment boycott they "therefore have a conflict of interest and should not attend the exam board".
That means staff who are taking industrial action are not involved in final meetings to decide students marks.
Guidance from the UCU to its members had said that "attendance at exam boards/meetings" was part of the boycott.
A UCU spokesperson told BBC News NI that they were "angered at the continuing lack of progress in resolving a pay dispute that has been ongoing for five years".
"The employers' organisation (UCEA) need to return to negotiations and management at Queen's need to recognise that a 25% cut in staff pay in real terms over the past 10 years is untenable.
"Staff are desperate for a solution and horrified by the damage being done by university management to the students progression and the value of their degrees.
"We are furious it has reached this point."
It continued: "Students and staff have been badly let down."
Sinn Féin MLA Pádraig Delargy reacted to the news by asking Queen;s and UCEA to "engage constructively to deliver fair pay for workers".
He said stress and anxiety had been created for many students who need their qualifications for employment or further study.
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- Published25 January 2023
