Dr Chris O'Donnell (University of the West of Scotland)

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Election address

I am a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and the Branch Secretary at University of the West of Scotland.  I am a working-class academic, someone proud of their heritage, its impact on my commitment to fairness, equality in gender, race, role, and the right to be valued.

For me HE is a job, I know that many of us see it also see it as a calling and it's at this nexus, this point of commitment, that is used to exploit you.   So many of us are employed precariously, overworked, our Gestalt devalued, debased and quantified into metrics.   If we step back we could see that the COVID-19 crisis brings that exploitation into sharp focus. Members are compelled to teach face to face out of fear for their future, to support students on crises when we are ill ourselves, we're being manipulated through our commitment to the values of HE that attracted us to this profession.  Our current lived experiences are a lens that brings clarity to your undoubted skills and commitment to HE but that brings sharp focus to the malady that working in HE has become.   The university's responses to the pandemic show us that your passion for HE is being used to benefit the pockets of the few, your commitment exploited to pressure you into accepting, an increasing workload, unmitigated stress, mental health crises, and the constant threat of redundancy.    This against a backdrop of institutional managers using increasingly precarious contracts, supporting an attack on your pension, cultivating the fetishization of the measurement of our "productivity", and perpetuating a narrative that you are never good enough.  

In contrast, I see members that are "the University experience", you are talented, you are changing and shaping lives, and the wider communities that we are so strongly a part of.     I want to deliver a vision of academia that reclaims the University as a workplace that happens to deliver learning, research and a cultural voice.  It should be a workplace free from, unfeasible workloads, precarity, racism, inequality, bullying, harassment, abuse, and fear. 

Our Union is undergoing a profound transformation, your lived experience is key in that process.   I am deeply committed to providing effective representation on our behalf, I have a reputation as an active and engaged member, committed to defending transparent governance, accountability and equality.  I have been inspired by several talented, committed colleagues from across HE who bring with them immense talent, diverse lived experiences and commitment to making our Union function for your good.   That's why I agreed to be part of the UCU Commons slate, and you can read more about the group here (https://ucucommons.wordpress.com/). 

Thank you for reading.

Chris