Thousands of staff at the University of Nottingham have been warned their roles are at risk as part of sweeping financial cuts, with the institution warning it could run out of money by 2031. Letters were sent to 2,700 employees on Tuesday, notifying them of potential redundancy.
The university, a member of the Russell Group, aims to cut more than 600 academic and support posts through voluntary and compulsory redundancies in departments with low staff-to-student ratios, including physics, medicine, and health sciences. The cuts reflect a funding squeeze and a slump in international student numbers affecting even highly ranked institutions.
The University and College Union (UCU) opposes the cuts, attributing the £85 million budget deficit to the failed Castle Meadow expansion campus and one-off costs from previous redundancies. UCU branch vice-president Andreas Bieler said: 'There are a lot of homemade problems, including the Castle Meadow campus, but also their financial strategy of always turning surpluses directly into investment into new buildings.'
UCU members have passed a vote of no confidence in Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane Norman and backed a marking boycott that could disrupt student graduations this summer. Bieler added: 'Management underestimates what we can do collectively. We have started to prepare for a marking boycott this month and we have quite a lot of buy-in by members.'
A university spokesperson said: 'We know that change of this scale is not easy... But doing nothing is not an option. Like many universities across the UK and globally, we face significant financial challenges.' Professor Lopa Leach, UCU branch president, argued the cuts to high-status departments would be self-defeating, harming global reputation and future recruitment.
