• Dundee University and College Union (DUCU) and the University will proceed with a joint proposal to reopen Voluntary Redundancies (VR), avoid compulsory redundancies (CR) wherever possible, and DUCU will not pursue further strikes insofar as the agreement is honoured. The coming weeks will see an opening to a new VR scheme termed ‘VR2’ that will be available to staff currently in CR risk pools. This also means DUCU will not proceed with its proposed judicial review, which generated over £3,000 in crowdfunding from supporters. Read the article here.

• UoD’s China partner corrects claim that Dundee staff looked forward to ‘national education’ events commemorating the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). A press release by the Dundee International Institute of Central South University (DIICSU) was centred around how nearly twenty of Dundee’s visiting staff, led by DIICSU’s CCP Secretary and Dean, joined Nanchang’s ‘eighth-round of national education activities for foreign teachers’; they allegedly commemorated the Communist Party’s Nanchang Uprising. After TJJ’s enquiry, the press release was amended. Read the article here.

• The University of Dundee, alongside thousands of other institutions worldwide, experienced the global Microsoft outage. At Dundee, this had mostly affected emails, according to the University’s IT Service. For Outlook, emails could not be sent or received and, in some cases, reported; Outlook itself could not be opened. Microsoft said that there are positive signs their servers are being stabilised and that they are not aware of any malicious activity that caused this incident. Read the full article here.

• Once again, Abertay University invited Justice for Innocent Men Scotland (JIMS) to speak to Criminology students. But it has now U-turned and apologised after a week of backlash. Organised by Dr Stuart Waiton, Abertay hosted JIMS director Marsha Sturgeon and founder Kirsty McDermott. After JIMS was invited last year, a complaint was lodged with the SPSO and the university received over 300 complaints. After conducting a 5-month investigation, none of the complaints was upheld. But this Friday, Principal Prof. Liz Bacon stated that “It is clear that we got things wrong and on behalf of the University I want to apologise for the distress and upset that this matter has caused, particularly to survivors of rape and sexual abuse and harassment.” Abertay has banned JIMS and their representatives from returning. Read the article here.

• The festive spirit will fill Dundee from Today as the Christmas Lights Switch-On takes place. The city centre will come alive with a Santa Dash, live music, street food, funfair rides, market stalls and a first-ever drone display. The Christmas Tree lights will switch on at 6 pm. This will be followed by a headline act by Just the Brave, an up-and-coming Scottish boyband. You can view the full schedule here.

Dundee Fact of the Week:

After a 13-year wait and 2 delays, GTA 6 is releasing on Thursday, 19 November. The original GTA was made in Dundee, with “Wee Mexico” at Nethergate being the former headquarters of Rockstar North, the creators. Some recent press previews hint that the map is around twice the size of the one in GTA 5, building excitement worldwide.