UCU: For evidence-based staff-student policies against misconduct

Motion

Motion text: HESC believes:
1. UCU should support clear, evidence based policy to prevent abuses of power
in HE, which must account for intersectional power relations
2. Clarity on staff-student relationships protects both staff and students
HESC notes:
a. Regulatory requirements on harassment and sexual misconduct in effect in
England from August 2025
page 84
b. Most students are uncomfortable with staff student relationships
HESC resolves to:
i. Consult with UCU’s equalities standing committees and anti-casualisation
committee, NUS, 1752 Group, and other relevant specialist and survivor
organisations
ii. Call branches to:
• Work with employers and students' unions, drawing on peer-reviewed
research to develop professional boundaries between staff and students
• Seek policies to prohibit staff from entering intimate relationships with
students for whom they have current or potential teaching, learning, or
pastoral responsibilities, including:
• Comprehensive, intersectional training and awareness raising on
professional boundaries and preventing sexual harassment across
academic hierarchies (including between staff)
• Development of training for staff handling disclosures.