The latest in a UK wide, years-long industrial dispute between academic staff and university executives: the Vice-Chancellor of Durham University has written to staff calling for “an end to the stalemate” that has seen a “significant minority” of final-year students face delays in graduating.

Professor Karen O’Brien, the Vice-Chancellor and Warden, said different factions in the UK universities need to “find a way forward that works for all parties”, and that “commitment to restarting negotiations is an encouraging step.”

This comes as the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) and the University and College Union (UCU) agreed to meet to discuss the current Marking and Assessment Boycott. 

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But Durham UCU President Sol Gamsu has said that the letter “neglects some key details”, and that pay for the 2023/24 may not be on the table during negotiations, due to the UCEA’s position “not to negotiate without preconditions.”

Mr Gamsu has asked the University to sign a joint statement calling for negotiations without conditions, and called for senior management to set a limit on pay deductions following the marking boycott, which he said are “souring relations” with staff.

Currently, many students’ end-of-year exams, projects, and dissertations have not been graded, as staff refuse to mark students’ work in an escalation of the bitter industrial dispute. This has put the degree classifications for some final-year students in jeopardy.

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All invested parties agree that “finalists urgently need to receive their final marks and conclude their degree to be able to move onto the next chapter in their lives”, with both the UCU and the Durham University Executive deeming the advancement toward negotiations a “welcome move”.

Professor O’Brien has said the University Executive “remain fully committed to engaging in constructive and forward-looking discussions at our own local level, and to working together to achieve positive outcomes for everyone as far as we possibly can.”

This includes looking at hot-topic issues that striking staff have raised concerns about, including casualisation and “precarious employment”, workloads, parental leave, and the gender pay gap.

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“We trust that the renewed commitment to negotiations for this national level dispute will serve to ensure that we can move forward from what has been a very difficult period in the University’s history.”

Mr Gamsu said: “The national dialogue may lead to positive movement but the Vice Chancellor’s account is one-sided and does not recognise fully what will be needed to satisfy UCU members and bring an end to the dispute.

“The lack of recognition of this in the Vice Chancellor’s statement suggests a detachment from the realities facing staff working at Durham University.”