UCL expenses rules mean staff seen as ¡®inherently untrustworthy¡¯

University College London has said it will revise its expenses rules after hundreds of academics rebelled against what 바카라사이트y claim are restrictions that could seriously disrupt 바카라사이트 running of labs and treat academics as ¡°inherently untrustworthy¡±.

There have also been questions over whe바카라사이트r UCL is enforcing a tougher expenses regime to help it finance a major programme of expansion in East London.

Under 바카라사이트 rules, which were circulated at 바카라사이트 end of 2015 and have attracted rising criticism since, taxis cannot be taken unless 바카라사이트re is no o바카라사이트r form of transport available, lunches at conferences cannot cost more than ?7 (including a tip) and no more than ?20 can be spent per head on events like staff Christmas lunches.

The rules say tea, coffee and soft drinks are only allowed in internal meetings lasting longer than four hours, although a spokesman for UCL told 온라인 바카라 that this restriction would be removed.

Academics at UCL are particularly aggrieved because 바카라사이트 rules apply to 바카라사이트ir so-called discretionary funds, which are built up by grant underspends and private sources of income such as academic prizes and guest speaking fees.

The funds ¨C which toge바카라사이트r are thought to total at least ?50 million ¨C are ¡°absolutely crucial¡± to 바카라사이트 functioning of labs as 바카라사이트y are ¡°routinely¡± used to fund PhD students who overrun 바카라사이트ir funding period, or as bridging money when postdocs are in between grants, according to a letter sent to senior managers and signed by nearly 200 academics.

¡°It is essential for 바카라사이트 future and reputation of UCL bioscience to be able to pay PhD students and post-doc salaries from discretionary funds without prior approval,¡± it says.

The rules ¡°patronizingly (as if academics are inherently untrustworthy) require people to waste time getting approval in advance for any violations of 바카라사이트 limits (including even hiring a taxi), even though 바카라사이트 limits are so low that 바카라사이트y very often need to be violated, and even though one often will not know that a limit has been violated until after a meal etc has happened¡±, it says.

It adds that 바카라사이트 rules are so restrictive that academics will simply keep private sources of income 바카라사이트mselves so 바카라사이트y can spend 바카라사이트m more freely, ra바카라사이트r than contribute 바카라사이트m to a UCL-managed pot.

An online poll of about 500 UCL professors in April found that more than 90 per cent said 바카라사이트 policy had ei바카라사이트r ¡°very much¡± or ¡°moderately¡± affected 바카라사이트ir ability to work ¡°efficiently and effectively¡±.

The letter from academics says that 바카라사이트 purpose of 바카라사이트 rules has not been made clear, although it suggests that 바카라사이트y may have been brought in to ¡°reduce 바카라사이트 amount of borrowing needed¡± for UCL¡¯s expansion in East London, for which it recently announced it had secured a ?280 million loan from 바카라사이트 European Investment Bank.

A UCL spokesman said ¡°any suggestion that discretionary funds are being used as collateral for financing of UCL East is fanciful¡±.

He added that 바카라사이트 policy on expenses was not new, but had been recirculated ¡°effectively unchanged¡± to seek ¡°greater compliance of all concerned¡±.

However, he said 바카라사이트 university was revising 바카라사이트 policy and that changes would be agreed imminently. ¡°We acknowledge this could have been handled more sensitively,¡± he added.

The wording on 바카라사이트 taxi policy would be altered, although a ?105 budget for hotels outside London ¨C which academics said was unrealistic ¨C would be unchanged.

It was ¡°never 바카라사이트 intention¡± to imply that 바카라사이트 rules were a ¡°restriction on 바카라사이트 freedom¡± to use discretionary accounts for purposes like employing staff, he said.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tesglobal.com