Uni in line for THES award

Lancaster University has been short listed for the employer of the year award run by the Times Higher Newspaper

In 2004, Lancaster was the first university in the UK to produce a staff charter.

Joe Thornberry, staff development officer said: " The charter followed from a staff satisfaction survey in 2003. It is a statement that sets out what an employee can expect of the university and what in turn is expected of the employee."

The survey found that manual staff, in particular, felt they did not have the learning opportunities available to other members of staff.

"We set up a focus group of manual staff and, as a result the charter was produced and the Staff Learning Centre was given full financial support by the University, " said Joe.

The centre is an open and flexible learning facility on campus, open to all staff. It is the result of a partnership between the university and all four campus unions - Amicus, the Association of University Teachers, the Transport and General Workers' Union and support union, Unison.

The Staff Learning Centre is open to all, from porters to professors and is free to all staff. It offers a range of courses and services from basic skills to IT training and guidance on further learning.

The other short listed universities are Sheffield Hallam University, Queen's University, Belfast and Leeds Metropolitan University.