Redundancies at your university?

[Oh2beatsea]

Are any of you working at one of the many universities that are struggling financially?
Our university announced the financial pressure it's under recently and they are now talking about redundancies. I know a few in the sector are in a similar position and wondered what stage you might be at and how has the process been managed? Have they offered voluntary redundancy first or have they gone straight to compulsory redundancies?
Unsettling times.

At Birkbeck I think they hit the number of VS needed, so that now those left are subjected to a new increased workload model. At Kent they are reducing research allocation time. Aberdeen headed off MFL closure, but some say at expense of other depts. What happened at UEA? Can't remember.

Northumbria too.

Sheffield Hallam 120 staff issued with risk of redundancy letters. Mainly principle lecturers.

I think comparatively little arts/humanities income comes from the REF, the majority comes from student fees. So if domestic enrolments are down and you can't plug the gap with international students then this would lead to an income contraction.

I'm not so sure that universities themselves necessarily want to be in the business of churning out employment fodder but the reality is that students are falling away in what I would call the classical subjects of literature, languages, etc.

Just wondering - is there any media awareness of the slaughter of the Arts and Humanities? It is not just the odd institution now, but a nationwide cull! Perhaps a targeted call to some major media outlets is necessary. Or involve the All-Parliamentary Groups associated with specific A&H disciplines?

I think some of the media are part of the onslaught to be honest!

Talk of "mickey mouse" degrees etc...

I imagine the middle classes (who write the newspapers or sit on Parliamentary Committees) can still get their DC into the remaining Ox-Bridge, RG courses, so the closure of A&H at post 92s, red bricks etc won't bother them in the slightest. It is going to blight some areas, where these places are major employers and leave students who won't leave home to study, for cost reason, with few options. And I'm just petrified I won't be able to pay my mortgage, or send me own DC to university!

Does anyone know what's happening at Kent? My daughter has accepted an offer to do Philosophy, Religion and Ethic but I heard on our local news that it is one of the areas that they are looking to shut down. Why are they still giving out offers? The consultation period was to close at the end of Feb. Any idea how long before people know what's happening? Thanks

Any news on Nottingham University?
I worked there years ago and loved it :(

idk about Kent. But these are absolutely questions you should be asking at open days/ offer holder days. At my place the proposed cuts will have a direct impact on next year’s teaching - fewer modules, less optionality, larger teaching groups, smaller range of expertise in the dept (which will eg mean no one able to supervise certain UG and Masters dissertation topics).

My place has stated one of their aims with these cuts is to double the staff-student ratio and ‘consolidate’ programmes.

Myself & son are off to the offer holders day at Oxford Brooks this weekend. He's got an offer to study automatic engineering. Having read about their financial difficulties im concerned what this will mean if he chooses to go there.

Any info no I can go armed with?

@kateandsam I don't know the specifics at OB, but I'd be asking questions about whether there are any planned or threatened cuts or restructuring (to staffing, to programmes) and how they might potentially impact his course and what those potential impacts are (bigger class sizes? Fewer options? etc).

Remember that the academic staff doing the talks and on the subject stands at open/offer holder days are the very ones whose jobs are under threat. So if you have beef, take it up with the VC's office or senior management (executive board, deans of faculty, potentially heads of school or department, most of whom are extremely unlikely to be present at open days, but you can find their info on the uni website and contact them via email)

@dodi1978

What about UCU, what are they doing? I'm out of the loop as I left while still a phd due to the madness

They’ve issued all middle management redundancy notices to get them to apply for the new middle management roles. So not quite the mass cull it seems to be. Just an awful and stressful way to restructure.

Same here!! I was looking at the Civil Service and NGOs and applied for my current post-doc on a whim. However, I'm not sure it will be easy to get a permanent post until another 7-8 years for me... we're recently hired for a lecturer and had people who were senior lecturers applying as well as other candidates with an enormous amount of publications/funding from prestigious bodies... I think moving from post-doc to post-doc or fixed-term contracts is more likely for the net few years...

It's also made me think about what protection a permanent post offers as I'm seeing friends/colleagues from various unis in permanent posts really, really frightened for their prospects. Sending solidarity and hugs as I'm finding it difficult to navigate what to do/how to plan for the future. I know it's not sensible, but I've got the academic bug and after all these years of hard work and sacrifice, I feel like I have to try my hand even if it feels like HE is burning down around me...

@Plating

Yep. I'm just going to carry on as long as I have employment which suits me and I'm enjoying what I'm doing, which I am. I think you have to enjoy the means (short term work) to the end - especially when the end goal of permanent job is looking increasingly shitty.

Am trying to look on the bright side where my postdoc workload is actually quite decent - I have enough time to do grant and paper writing in my actual work hours (!) which my wonderful PI certainly does not have. So maybe getting some years experience as a postdoc and then moving sideways into third sector isn't a bad idea!

@gyrt same - if it wasn't for the geographical hopping around involved, I'd be happy moving from interesting project to project without the constraints/work load that comes with a permanent post!

Portsmouth announced possible redundancies now. It's like a rash spreading.

Is any of this reported in the news yet?

Or is it being hushed up in the media with the election looming?

In local news it gets reported because of job implications. Starting to be picked up in professional Press, but not so much in MSM. It demands a whole rethinking if funding model and who will take that on? I think it should be discussed urgently because a majority of students will go to non RG and will be hugely affected.and I'll bet they don't even know.

It certainly does feel very urgent. It appears from this thread that a large number of universities are already affected and cutting staff.

Doesn't that mean it's already reached crisis point and HE is going to be seriously reduced in the next year or so? That is very urgent.

Politicians are clearly avoiding this huge hot potato topic. What is the current governments response to this? If any? It has happened on their watch.

If the proposed cuts go ahead in my dept, then yes - it will dramatically impact teaching next year. Fewer modules will run (because staff won't be there to run them), meaning fewer options for students and larger teaching groups. Reduction in expertise means limitations on e.g. UG dissertation topics. Not even sure what would happen to my PhD students if I left/ got made redundant. I've got two that just started this year and no one else in my dept has the expertise to supervise them.

C.30 unis are on point of bankruptcy. I just think that with a split sector - those that are doing ok (RG) and those that are not....the have nots will be hung out to dry.

@tizalinatuna is there any way of finding out which 30, please?

Not hard to guess. Most have been announcing restructures and redundancies over last couple of years..
.but somewhere you can access the balance sheets.i do t think it is that easy to find as noone wants to blare about it!