Stop The Cuts!

Strike action at the University of Gloucestershire has been delayed until later this week. Around 16 staff face the axe and the University and College Union (UCU) members have decided on strike action following a breakdown in talks with education bosses.

​Student Union president Leigh Moore has been criticised for not supporting possible strike action which UCU members are considering following job cuts. One lecturer said: “At any university the frontline staff are the lecturers and researchers. Cut these and recruitment will drop as classes get crowded and vital expertise and professional connections are lost. UCU’s action is intended to save the university from these ill-effects and protect students from receiving a sub-standard education that the proposed job and resource cuts surely promise." The University of Gloucestershire says it needs to save £3 million by July and is planning to sell its London campus and Pittville campus in Cheltenham, as well as making job cuts.
 

In what are likely to be only the first round of forced departures, the University of Gloucestershire has announced 30 compulsory redundancies, including 17 academic posts. UCU have accused management of reneging on promises made in early summer after 100 employees agreed to leave voluntarily. Staff at risk include national teaching fellows and a number of professors hired in the past two years.
Following a deficit of more than £6 million at the end of the past financial year, an "academic efficiency review" aimed at saving £3 million was launched. The university's £8.3 million investment in its East London campus, which opened seven months ago, is understood to be central to its financial difficulties. It is hoped that the sale of the two campuses will reduce Gloucestershire's borrowing from £36 million to £14 million, saving £5 million a year in running costs and interest repayments.