Uni Sydney joins the UK Science Council’s Technician Commitment

It is about, “ensuring visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research.”

Uni Syd states it will work closely with UK counterparts to “development and implement self-assessments and an action plan.”

Good-o but perhaps this is but part of a bigger issue – the way technical staff are covered by the Higher Education Workforce industrial award, which originated a generation back and includes job classifications for professional staff that do not suit high-skilled workers who keep Himalayan-high tech kit ticking over. (The same issue surely applies to the ed-tech/learning management communities).

Directors of 22 National Collaborative Research Infrastructure facilities are on to this, proposing  a “simple, fit-for-purpose classification for research infrastructure specialist roles  … such as by creating a new job-family” with its own KPIs, (CMM November 8 2022).