Lincoln Redundancies

AtRisk · 2025-04-09T15:03:32+00:00

285 redundancies announced. 80% of which are going to be academics. This is after a big load of redundancies last year.

LittleBigHead · 09/04/2025 18:04

Ugh. It's a fairly small university anyway.

And all those really talented, hard working determined colleagues. It's awful, more than awful.

UntetheredSoul · 12/04/2025 20:43

How awful. I can't imagine how much stress the staff will be under when everyone has left. Workloads will be totally unworkable.

Patterncarmen · 15/04/2025 08:49

Yes, it is bad. I have colleagues there under unbelievable stress. Several left to take other jobs or left academe to work for charities or the council. It isn’t going to be good for the region either, as the only other institution in Lincoln is Bishop Grosseteste which is mostly teacher training. They have their own financial problems.

I think it is likely the university will get rid of humanities entirely and just focus on STEM and the medical/pharmacy school, agrifood and engineering. They also are shifting to doing remote learning for those in the military and international studies. On the other hand they managed to spend £10 million to buy a separate complex for the administrators…stately home called Lawress Hall, so you can make of that what you will.

They had an excellent history department which did incredibly well in the last REF, and a very good small philosophy department. So much investment in these disciplines the past few years just won’t bear fruit.

EffortlesslyDecluttering · 15/04/2025 09:38

I'm sorry to hear this, I visited with my DC on open day last year and it seemed like a fabulous university, the staff we spoke to were great, she is holding an offer for history so this really concerns me. I have just looked at the BBC report.

added - apologise for butting in when I am not in academia, it came up in Most Active

Original poster

AtRisk · 15/04/2025 09:42

They have said they’re not looking to cut any courses so hopefully history and other humanities will continue. I think they need to maximise their income/student numbers not slash student numbers.

OP posts:

Patterncarmen · 15/04/2025 11:45

AtRisk · 15/04/2025 09:42

They have said they’re not looking to cut any courses so hopefully history and other humanities will continue. I think they need to maximise their income/student numbers not slash student numbers.

The history department is great at Lincoln.

However, I know in history the past year 3 members of staff took VS and retired, several (5-6?) went part time, some quite part time, 2 left for other jobs. Many are looking to jump. I heard that there are also going to be other departmental restructurings which will lead to redundancies and there was talk about having a more modern curriculum. So, well…you can read into it what you will.
English, History, and Philosophy were combined in to a mega department and the colleges were restructured a couple years ago.

The workload is going to go up again, I’m pretty sure.

Patterncarmen · 15/04/2025 11:46

EffortlesslyDecluttering · 15/04/2025 09:38

I'm sorry to hear this, I visited with my DC on open day last year and it seemed like a fabulous university, the staff we spoke to were great, she is holding an offer for history so this really concerns me. I have just looked at the BBC report.

added - apologise for butting in when I am not in academia, it came up in Most Active

Edited

The history staff that are there are great, but I’m not sure how many will leave, be made redundant, etc. I’d say you have a right to ask some questions so they can clarify.

EffortlesslyDecluttering · 15/04/2025 11:57

Patterncarmen · 15/04/2025 11:46

The history staff that are there are great, but I’m not sure how many will leave, be made redundant, etc. I’d say you have a right to ask some questions so they can clarify.

Show quote history

Thank you, I will talk to her tonight. She was planning to put them as her second choice due to distance, but it would have been a contender for first choice if it wasn't for that, she really liked it and the city. I have to say her offer was lower than I would have expected, perhaps a sign of desperation.

Patterncarmen · 15/04/2025 12:03

EffortlesslyDecluttering · 15/04/2025 11:57

Thank you, I will talk to her tonight. She was planning to put them as her second choice due to distance, but it would have been a contender for first choice if it wasn't for that, she really liked it and the city. I have to say her offer was lower than I would have expected, perhaps a sign of desperation.

Show quote history

The city of Lincoln is really nice, and the staff that are there really care about their students…a lot. Ask what their plans are if your DD wants to go there. You have the right to know that. Good luck.

EffortlesslyDecluttering · 15/04/2025 13:49

Patterncarmen · 15/04/2025 12:03

The city of Lincoln is really nice, and the staff that are there really care about their students…a lot. Ask what their plans are if your DD wants to go there. You have the right to know that. Good luck.

Show quote history

Thank you, I appreciate that. It's the impression we got too. We went on a department tour and the student guiding our group mentioned some research that is highly relevant to me, when we finished I asked if it might be possible to speak to someone about it or find out any names to look up and they went and found the right PhD student who was only too happy to chat to me about it, you remember these things.

jennylamb1 · 16/04/2025 09:30

EffortlesslyDecluttering · 15/04/2025 09:38

I'm sorry to hear this, I visited with my DC on open day last year and it seemed like a fabulous university, the staff we spoke to were great, she is holding an offer for history so this really concerns me. I have just looked at the BBC report.

added - apologise for butting in when I am not in academia, it came up in Most Active

Edited

I’m in academia and also have a son who will
be applying for university in a couple of years-
it is good to have an awareness of the Higher Education landscape. There was a computer science degree at Portsmouth University that looked like a good insurance option for DS which within a couple of months had transferred to a London campus. Obviously to mitigate costs by amalgamating with a London Uni, but all of a sudden he would have been looking at 2 hours travel each way or London prices to live there which wholly put that institution out of the picture.
I think that there will always be options for your DC, however good to keep a weather eye on what’s happening, institutions will always cast a rosy complexion on changes, however academic staff see the machinery working- which does vary a lot, my home institution has a decent vice chancellor who engages positively with the union which is good.

EffortlesslyDecluttering · 18/04/2025 22:02

Yes, that is one reason I haven't hidden this board, it gives a different view to the HE one. I don't know anyone IRL who works in academia to talk to, just other parents of students and the landscape does seem to change a lot. I have talked to DD, she is still going to put Lincoln as back-up but will contact them nearer the time and do some research on clearing options.