There have been a number of questions from staff about the budget challenge and staffing.

In the UC Staff Forum Keith talked about the budget challenges and the savings that needed to be achieved.   Cheryl said that is it not always about the money, where there are significant opportunities for growth UC will take them.    We all agree that the priority is to protect the jobs of current staff as much as possible.    In comparison to other universities UC is in a relatively good space but responding to the impact of COVID-19 has required some significant and ongoing belt tightening.

What does this mean for the Library?   We have three budget challenges for 2020.   An existing $176K staff vacancy gap, a $68K opex challenge, and, in the last two weeks, a further $100K COVID challenge.   There are further savings required in areas such as travel, catering and consultancy; and staff are being strongly encouraged to use their leave.   A vacancy gap means that positions cannot be filled until the savings are made. Capital projects such as the Horizon Replacement and the Archives Shelving are on hold or have been extended out a number of years.

There is a UC wide staffing freeze at the moment. Positions can be filled but they need a much stronger case detailing why this position is essential to get approval and the department must have an agreed way of meeting their budget challenges with their SLT manager (Ian Wright) and Finance.

We have four positions that are currently vacant, two retirements in August, and a small number of further retirements likely in the next six months.  We will use the savings from these positions to make up the $100K and the remainder of the vacancy gap for 2020.  We are likely to have four or five positions unfilled for the remainder of 2020 when typically we would have three.    Some of these positions will be filled in 2021 but not all, and in some cases the position will be different from the original.  Library Managers are reviewing services and staffing in each area so we can see where we most need staff resources given the demands on our services are changing.

If I reduce my hours will they be lost?  Are there opportunities to increase hours?

If you reduce hours it will depend on the individual circumstances and if it is a temporary or permanent change. If the hours are essential they will be replaced in some way, otherwise they will be part of the vacancy gap decisions.  We are adding staffing to respond to urgent service need.   Two fixed term positions have just been filled in Customer Services after COVID delayed the appointments. Cover for Gabrielle has been approved while she is filling in for Nekerangi.   Kim Hall is working in Customer Services 15 hours a week for 10 weeks to support Rā and provide a training programme for CS staff.

What has happened to Lyndsay’s position?

We all miss the contribution that Lyndsay brought to the AUL L&T position and to the culture of the Library. Currently the position is providing salary savings to help meet the budget challenges while we try out other options and before a decision is made to replace it or not. In the meantime Te Paea, Sara and Stuart are reporting to Anne. Some of Lyndsay’s tasks are being absorbed by Anne and Helen. Moira is working 15 hours a week to help cover some of the areas that would normally be covered by Anne, Helen or Lyndsay.  Sara is focusing more on the strategic Learning and Teaching issues, including OER; liaising with groups such as Academic Skills; and has picked up Health and Safety.  She covered for me at the Learning and Teaching Committee last Friday.   Stuart is working more closely with Helen in the Research space.  Te Paea is focused on the changes in Customer Services, the MakerSpace developments, and the Chatbot development. Tim and Jo have picked up more of the culture and staff wellbeing.

I am aware that these vacant positions are having an impact across the Library both on workload and culture, but it does mean that we are able to retain staff in continuing and fixed term positions.  COVID has increased the rate of change at UC, and in the Library we are adjusting our services to meet these changing priorities. There will be more online teaching and enquiries. The move to online and open resources is continuing at a much faster pace. The people and budget impacts from COVID are rippling across UC, other institutions, vendors and funders.  We are looking at what are the most important services to resource, what opportunities we wish to take advantage of such as OER, and to what level.  With fewer staff overall this means some hard choices about the services that we can let go, automate, self-service, or provide in some less staff intensive way, and yes that means a lower quality service in some cases. We are being expected to pick up other work in copyright, data analytics and research impact to a greater degree than before.

How do we support changes in learning practice, different student cohorts, research impact, changes to publishing and student success?   Now that things are settling down a little we have the opportunity to reflect on the UC Strategy and consult more widely with Library staff on what this looks like going forward.

Ngā mihi, Anne