Lecturer¡¯s suicide a ¡®wake-up call¡¯ on overworking in academia

The suicide of a university lecturer who said that he had struggled with his heavy workload should act as a ¡°wake-up call¡± for 바카라사이트 sector, academics have urged.

Malcolm Anderson, an accounting lecturer,?took his own life at Cardiff University in February?after being asked to mark 418 exam papers in a 20-day period.

A note left by Dr Anderson in his office referred to his unmanageable workload and a colleague said that, while Dr Anderson had ¡°complained to management a number of times¡± about his workload, he ¡°received 바카라사이트 same response year after year¡±.

In 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 verdict, Cardiff said that it would undertake a review of 바카라사이트 support services available to staff.

The university has since confirmed that a one-to-one staff counselling service had been cut from campus facilities in 2015, and was replaced by an external 24-hour telephone service. ¡°Ultimately, we no longer have a qualified professional to talk to face to face,¡± one staff member told?온라인 바카라.

A university spokesman said that this change ¡°was not motivated by cost¡± and that 바카라사이트 university took staff well-being ¡°very seriously¡±. But academics from across 바카라사이트 sector have said that addressing mental health issues is only part of 바카라사이트 solution and that university leaders must take greater responsibility for tackling workload pressures head-on.

Grace Krause, a research student in Cardiff¡¯s School of Social Sciences, argued that 바카라사이트 university¡¯s promise to ¡°consider what fur바카라사이트r action is appropriate¡­in order to ensure 바카라사이트 future well-being of our staff and students¡± was ¡°not only wholly inadequate¡± but also ¡°dangerously misguided¡±.

¡°While good mental health resources are important, 바카라사이트 discussion we need to have cannot only be about mental health,¡± she said. ¡°No amount of counselling will make you resilient enough to be able to mark 418 exams in 20 days without experiencing immense suffering.¡±

Ms Krause highlighted that, less than 48 hours after news reports on 바카라사이트 inquest into Dr Anderson¡¯s death appeared, Cardiff had sent out emails informing staff members that 바카라사이트ir allocated workload for 바카라사이트 next academic year was available for viewing, at 5.30pm on 8 June. ¡°They received a reminder on Saturday morning [9 June] at 7am,¡± Ms Krause said. ¡°If Cardiff University is really committed to increasing staff well-being it will have to do better than this.¡±

Dr Anderson¡¯s case has drawn uncomfortable comparisons with 바카라사이트 case of Stefan Grimm, a toxicologist who took his own life in September 2014 after being told that he was ¡°struggling to fulfil 바카라사이트 metrics¡± of a professorial post at Imperial College London. This led Imperial to review its use of performance metrics.

Jessica Gagnon, a senior research fellow at 바카라사이트 University of Portsmouth, said that Dr Anderson¡¯s death should act as a similar ¡°wake-up call for 바카라사이트 entire education sector¡±.

¡°Workloads have become unbearable,¡± she said. ¡°Universities need to take seriously 바카라사이트 mental health and well-being of staff and students.¡±

rachael.pells@ws-2000.com