David Harvie (University of Leicester)

Election address

I am employed by University of Leicester, where I'm associate professor of finance and political economy.

I was elected to a casual vacancy on NEC - as an HE representative for the Midlands - in March 2020. I'm now standing for re-election.

UCU is a big union - we are 130,000 - in a sector employing more than half a million people. The sector is broken and it's breaking us and our students. University leaders are incapable of responding adequately to the myriad crises we face, both as educators and as citizens. The task falls on us - on UCU and other unions - to rethink universities and colleges for the 21st century, and to make that vision a reality.

NEC and its subcommittees could and should play an essential part in this process of reimagining and remaking post-16 education. NEC is responsible for holding to account the general secretary and other UCU officers. Beyond this, and just as important, NEC has a key role in shaping our union's policy (within parameters determined by annual congress), in making our union more responsive, more creative, more effective - in making it a force to be reckoned with. To do this, we need to work with Jo Grady, the general secretary.

In my nine months on NEC I've discovered that it too is broken. Too many NEC members are more interested in petty point-scoring and grand-standing than in constructive debate. There's too much aggression and not enough care. Moreover NEC and its workings are opaque.

Along with other relatively new members, I am determined to change this culture. We - elected representatives - must be more careful and more caring. NEC decision-making must be more open and transparent: the UCU members who elect us must be able to see how we spend our time. Some of our proposals for UCU accountability and transparency have been accepted (search "proposals for UCU accountability and transparency") - but we have more work to do.

I believe that we can transform UCU such that it becomes an organisation that is capable of transforming our sector - and even our society. As part of that project, I am part of a new constellation or caucus within our union, UCU Commons. As well as voting for me, please consider voting for the other great UCU Commons candidates who are also standing for election as part of this slate.

Web: www.ucuCommons.org * www.medium.com/david-harvie

Twitter: @ucuCommons * @DavidHarvieUCU