The management has recently announced on the University’s website that “Latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show that the University of Huddersfield has maintained its outstanding reputation for investing in the quality and qualifications of its staff.” Among the achievements is that 76% of our academic staff hold doctorates – a number apparently exceeded only by the Universities of Oxford and Nottingham.
We would like to note that this high rate of qualification has very little to do with investment in staff. Academic staff in Huddersfield who are not already in possession of doctorates are required to complete them upon the fear of losing their jobs. While the fact that the University covers the student fees presents an opportunity for some staff, the requirement is a significant burden on others. The management has so far refused to commit in the form of policy or degree guidance to providing any practical support for staff doctoral candidates besides fee-free supervison. Staff are not entitled to any set amount of time off to work on their doctoral projects. In practice, this means that staff undertaking doctorates do so during evenings and weekends, sacrificing their personal and family lives. The Jonathan Duxbury unfair dismissal employment tribunal won by the UCU not so long ago demonstrates this problem in full.
The wisdom of the staff doctorate requirement is also continuously questioned. It led to loss of valuable professionally qualified staff in such areas as Accounting and Computer Game Writing, depriving students of opportunities to be taught by staff with close links to industries.
The fact that countless university across the UK that do not have as many staff with doctorates as Huddersfield are nonetheless very successful also puts a question mark over the staff doctorate requirement.
HudUCU 