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Class sizes are rising, but more time is being spent on admin
duties than on students or research. Welcome to the life as a 21st
century lecturer.

Polling conducted by the College and
University Support Network (CUSN) for UCU on the eve of the union’s
annual congress has revealed that administration dominates lecturers’
workloads. The issue is set to be debated at the Manchester conference
with delegates likely to call for more effective guidelines to curtail
excessive workloads, and to ensure time for research and scholarship.

The survey revealed:

For CUSN to help those working in further, higher and adult education, we need to make sure that as many people as possible become aware of our services. As an independent charity, we rely to a large extent on word-of-mouth to increase our profile.

Please help us by telling your friends about the organisation, particularly
those who you think could benefit from our services.

By visiting our publication page or phoning 08000 32 99 52, you can order posters and leaflets to spread the word about CUSN and our services.

Happiness & Its Causes is a conference on the tools and techniques for a happier life.

The Second European Conference will be a meeting place for hundreds of delegates from industry, government, professional services and those seeking answers on how to improve happiness and overall quality of life.

Building on the 2007 event, this year's conference will feature over 30 leading speakers from fields such as science, psychology, philosophy, economics and religion.

At last month's UCU Annual Congress, the findings of our joint survey of lecturers were released. You can see them again here.

Those who took the time to help us by completing the questions were entered into a prize draw for some vouchers. The winners were:

Times Higher Education magazine reported this week the the organisation Quality of Working Life has published a report on the working lives of academics.

Last week, the Times Higher Education Supplement has published accusations that some British universities are offering "bogus" degrees in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Do you have members in crisis?

Do you take calls at 3 am?

CUSN is here to help...

Teacher Support Network’s recent quarterly report revealed a number
of new figures collected from our specialist support services, which
highlight the needs of college and university staff today.

Many CUSN users called about the conditions they experience in their
workplace last quarter, with 30 per cent of all calls and 38 per cent
of all online coaching on this subject.

This is unique to our CUSN users with other sectors in the charity
(Teacher Support Network, Teacher Support Scotland and Teacher Support
Cymru) citing personal issues as key topics of concern.

We will have a stand throughout congress where you can come and talk
to us about the services we provide, the ways we can support you and
receive our new CUSN referral card.

We will also be holding a fringe meeting on Wednesday 28^th May which will demonstrate our services, in particular the online coaching facility.

After the fringe meeting we will hold one-to-one 20 minute ‘surgery’
sessions where you will have the opportunity to discuss an issue of
your own or an issue that a member you are representing is experiencing.