Managing temporary workers in higher education: still at the margin?

Purpose – To evaluate whether “numerical flexibility” – specifically a form of temporary and precarious employment – hourly-paid part-time teaching in the UK higher education sector – adds strategic value and demonstrates good practice. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on new evidence drawn from five case study organisations in which a range of managers was interviewed in depth. Findings – Analysis identifies a continuum of strategies from integration into the main workforce through to “deepened differentiation”. Although integration is somewhat problematic when applied to a diverse group, differentiation seems predicated on a defensive, risk management approach designed to further marginalise this activity. Also, differentiation fails to address the aspirations of many employees, creating tensions between institutional strategy and the needs of academic heads. Research limitations/implications – The number of case studies is limited. These case studies were selected because they had the most proactive strategies on this issue, which infers that the majority of employers in HE have not been rather less strategic or proactive. Practical implications – The paper is of particular value to HR professionals considering the use of numerical flexibility approaches. It also contributes to the academic debate on the strategic value of such approaches. Originality/value – The paper explores a neglected but important area of the workforce. The paper notes that some supposed benefits of numerical flexibility might be illusory, such as the deployment of allegedly “cheap and disposable” substitute workers which may be offset by unintentional consequences including rigidities in an organisation's human resource systems

Go Back to the Beginning: Career Development and the Challenges of Transitioning From the Military to Civilian Employment

This chapter examines the transition challenges facing military personnel to moving to civilian employment, a major issue for nations like the USA that have large armed forces. For such personnel, they seek to establish a career after a period of service and often without the credentials required for existing or future job vacancies. This chapter discusses the challenges of career transition from military to civilian employment, largely in the context of the US-based literature. The chapter proceeds to outline the range of obstacles to transition and then considers remedial measures to support transition ranging from pre transition to post transition support programs

The growth and development of Methodism in Cumbria

This thesis examines the proposition that all religious influence in Cumbria has been weak and that Methodism was only partly an exception to this rule. The role and strength of the Church of England, the Protestant Dissenters and the Roman Catholics from the 17th century to the 19th century is investigated in order to introduce the rise and progress of Methodism to I830. It is argued that Methodism developed out of the extraordinary economic and social development in the county in the two periods I800to I830 and I860 to 1880, and because of the influx of outside Methodists who made limited impact on native Cumbrians. However as economic decline set in after I900 Methodism lost its dynamism and commenced its protracted contraction of resources in chapels, membership numbers and circuit importance which so depended upon the increase in population brought about during the two periods. The major secessions of the Wesleyan Association in l836 and the Wesleyan Reformers in I850 are explored, as is subsequent history of the Wesleyans into the 20th century and of their splinter Connexions who became the United Methodist Free Churches. The second largest Connexion, the Primitive Methodists, are described in their progress in the county and the issue of the ministry receives prominence in this section, and in the concluding chapter concerning the 1932 Methodist Union in Cumbria. Two major Appendices present a detailed survey of leading Methodist laymen and ministers in the Primitive, Wesleyan and United Methodist ranks in the county, and the significance of religious census material as indicative of the popular support for the Methodists amongst the population. Three shorter Appendices deal with the peculiar case of Methodism on Alston Moor, and the weak presence of Methodism in Dumfries, and of the Bible Christian Connexion in the county. The final Appendix explores the changes in membership in a detailed analysis of one circuit, charting the causes and significance of these annual developments. The sources and bibliography bring together all known primary material relating to Cumbrian Methodism

When Indian Law and Tax Law Collide: How Pull-Tab Games Got to the Supreme Court

This Note will explore the reasons why two identical cases can turn out with completely different results. To do so, consideration will be given to the statutes involved and the varying interpretations of these statutes. Another important consideration is the policy behind these statutes, especially the IGRA. Part II will describe what the pull-tab games are, the statutes at issue, the conflicting cases, and the statutory interpretation issue. Part III will describe how the tenets of Indian Law can affect the analysis. Part IV will contain an analysis of the statutes and compare it to how the courts analyzed them. Part IV will also explore how issues and policies more specific to Indian law should be weighed in the analysis of the statute. Finally, the Note will conclude that the decision in Little Six, Inc. is the correct one. The first decision, Chickasaw Nation v. United States, decided in the Tenth Circuit, held that the tribe was not exempt from paying excise taxes on these games. The second decision, Little Six, Inc. v. United States, decided by the Federal Circuit, held that the tribe was exempt from these excise taxes. These results were contradictory in spite of the fact that the factual situations were virtually identical and involved the same statutes

Health Supplier Quality and the Distribution of Child Health

There is emerging evidence to suggest that initial differentials between the health of poor and more affluent children in the UK do not widen over early childhood. One reason may be that through the universal public funded health care system all children have access to equally effective primary care providers. This paper examines this explanation. The analysis has two components. It first examines whether children from poorer families have access to general practitioners of a similar quality to children from richer families. It then examines whether the quality of primary care to which a child has access has an impact on their health at birth and on their health during early childhood. The results suggest that children from poor families do not have access to markedly worse quality primary care, and further, that the quality of primary care does not appear to have a large effect on differentials in child health in early childhood.primary care quality, child health