Letters

Send your letters to acting editor of the Reporter, David Pickering. Email the.reporter@leeds.ac.uk or send by internal post to press office, 12.67 E C Stoner building.

All letters will be considered for publication. We will not as a rule publish 'round robin' letters, letters that have been published elsewhere or letters that have also been sent to University colleagues for action. Letters may be cut (for space) and we will indicate where this has happened. If writers have asked questions, we will attempt to answer them. If they assert things we know to be untrue, we may add an editor’s note.

MUCH MORE THAN BROADBAND
(from Simon Mulholland, networking project manager, ISS)
In the article ‘Student halls to get a modern facelift’ [February Reporter 523], you mentioned that Mary Ogilvie House has 560 new en-suite rooms with broadband internet connections.

Although the business case for the residence network requested a service based on a commercial internet service provider (ISP), the University’s own service network - known as JANET - provides so much more.

ISS actively manages the service, which provides our students with a fast, secure connection to campus and the internet, with a capacity up to 10 times that of home broadband. It allows our students to gain access to the student portal, library facilities and campus services from their study rooms, in addition to web browsing and online services such as email and MSN. Students can also watch 15 TV channels or listen to 27 radio stations on their computers.

We provide advice and guidance to students on internet connection and computer security with telephone support through the ISS helpdesk, onsite support from volunteer student advisers, and drop-in sessions at the start of the year.

The commercial ISPs could learn a lot from what we are doing at Leeds - at the very least we’re providing broadband gold!

STAKEHOLDER EXPECTATIONS
(from Dr Alan Slomson, director of undergraduate studies, School of Mathematics)
I note that in his reply to Gavin Reid’s letter [January Reporter 522] the Deputy Vice-Chancellor writes that “there is also the need to address rising stakeholder expectations”. Don’t the staff count as stakeholders? Are they not also entitled to rising expectations?

The University had operating surpluses of £7 million in each of the financial years 2003-4 and 2004-5. Although I believe that the original plan was to go into deficit in 2005-6, there was nonetheless again a surplus, this time of £4 million. Despite this it was claimed in the summer that the University couldn’t possibly afford a pay rise greater than the one on offer.

In the light of this it is not a surprise to find in the University’s Strategic Plan 2006 that one of its key performance targets for 2011 is: “Aim to have at least 65% of our staff reporting that they feel valued and are well managed” (page 30). Thus the University seems to accept that in four years’ time over one-third of its staff will still be disgruntled.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor for students and staff Stephen Scott replies:
Our staff certainly do matter and are entitled to rising expectations - they are at the heart of the University strategy and the £359 million capital plan announced in the Reporter. The new pay framework agreement and future pay rounds will invest an extra £13 million a year in salary increases, over and above the 3.5% increase previously planned. And from May 2007, Leeds will become one of the UK’s first universities to introduce a 35-hour working week for 3,400 ancillary, clerical and technical staff at a cost of £1 million a year.

But rising expectations also relate to the provision of first-class facilities in which our world-class research, learning and teaching can be carried out. Successive rounds of research (SRIF) and teaching (TCap) funding have been oversubscribed many times by the ambitious proposals put forward by our staff. The backlog maintenance programme will address the imposed historic underinvestment in basic fitness-for-purpose requirements, such as installing new lifts, or updating toilets, wiring and lighting. Failing to invest in our infrastructure would be unacceptable to our staff and students, and unsustainable, as we could not deliver future income streams from new research grants and student enrolments.

Our emphasis now must also include appointing additional new staff to address the high student:staff ratios affecting both staff workloads and student experience. Perhaps that along with the new swimming pool, staff centre, etc will allow us to overachieve on what Dr Slomson clearly feels is an unambitious target for well-being.

We hope all staff took the opportunity this month to complete the well-being survey so we can identify further areas for improvement. The results will be published in May.

HEARTFELT GRATITUDE
From Ann Hughes (née Milner)
I would like to thank all my friends at the University for their phone calls, cards and letters on the very sad occasion of the death of my husband, Howard, and to say how much I have appreciated such wonderful support.

I also wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my very special friends who travelled to Doncaster on 21 February to attend Howard’s funeral and to all who contributed to the sum of £535, which will be sent to ward P3 at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield.