University of Nottingham Notifies 2700 Staff of Redundancy Risk

The University of Nottingham sent letters to 2700 staff on Tuesday notifying them that their roles were at risk of redundancy. The university said it could run out of money by 2031 and plans to reduce more than 600 academic and support posts through voluntary and compulsory redundancies.

The cuts target subjects and departments with low staff-to-student ratios, including physics, medicine and health sciences. The University and College Union opposes the measures. It attributes the £85m budget deficit last year to costs from an expansion campus known as Castle Meadow, which is now being written off, and one-off expenses from a previous round of redundancies in which 350 jobs were lost.

A professor of political economy and the UCU branch vice-president 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 the vice-chancellor and backed a marking boycott that is likely to affect the administration's ability to ensure students can graduate in the summer. The same professor added that management underestimates what we can do collectively.

A university spokesperson said change of this scale is not easy and the institution does not underestimate what it means for many of its colleagues and students. The spokesperson added that the university will be doing everything it can to support its people through the next few months.

The spokesperson continued that doing nothing is not an option. The university faces significant financial challenges like many universities across the UK and globally. It is taking action to shape its future rather than have circumstances shape it for it.

The spokesperson described these as really difficult decisions that have not been taken lightly.

A professor of vascular biology and the UCU branch president argued that the cuts to high-status departments such as chemistry would be self-defeating. The professor said the cuts will impact the institution's global reputation and rankings and recruitment of future students.

An associate professor of geography who received a warning notice said if you get rid of so many you've got no space for growth. The associate professor asked where the university can increase revenue after making savings. The redundancies are part of a funding squeeze and slump in international student numbers affecting even highly-ranked institutions such as Nottingham, a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities.