"consultation" has become void of meaning in #UKHE. If you're not actually engaging with the content it isn't really input, it's just a number in an inbox.
Like this slide exactly shows. Absurd how @universityofessex.bsky.social thinks this is justifying not damning.
Strathclyde University has a ~£35m deficit
Over 100 staff earn > £100k. Vice Chancellor gets package > £400k
6-figure salary group alone represents ~ 40% of deficit
Strathclyde's answer isn’t trimming at the top, it’s cutting jobs lower down
news.stv.tv/west-central...
We've heard from @bayoalaba.bsky.social that VC Frances Bowen is *still* not communicating with the Southend MPs or Southend Council.
We continue to be incredibly disappointed by this - especially as she seems to be able to find time to speak to the BBC to justify the cuts!
In yet more shocking news: the University forgot to give us our pay uplift for this year (which they had already unilaterally deferred to February).
Hundreds of staff have applied for voluntary redundancy, and had their redundancy pay confirmed based on their salary. What does this mean for them?
Until UUK is stopped, there's no point in reviewing universities any further
There needs to be a review of UUK
UniversitiesUK is lobbying group for Vice-Chancellors, not staff or students
It's consistently lobbied for higher tuition fees & marketisation
It's supported bureaucratic corporatisation & excessive VC pay -- but never staff
It's grown fat on University money
universitiesuk.ac.uk/about-us/peo...
HE contractors are corrupt across the board, just like HE senior managers.
Their 'shadow economy' is rapidly falling apart but they all are walking away with vast amounts of Ill-gotten wealth and zero consequences.
Oh they are concerned about the research talent pipeline?
@georgeclarke.bsky.social @andylong6.bsky.social @timeshighered.bsky.social @theguardian.com @danhollandnews.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk @moneyontheleft.bsky.social @financialtimes.com @ukhenews.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @unison.org.uk
The budget always has room for private contractors.
Wow, Essex is getting some big news coverage!
Promote that marketing team!
Oh goody!
a university manager who actually resigns after staff & students make clear they have no confidence in them. What a notion.
(how many #UKHE Votes of No Confidence have we got by now? And how much have those VCs & the trustees shown a complete disinterest in staff & student experience?)
The REF, in every aspect, is a joke.
It will only get more so as the research reputation of UK HE crashes.
Transparency in decision making isn't just a buzzword. It is needed to stave off arbitrariness and all the harmful decisions that come from that.
The bare minimum step @qmul.bsky.social could do is to be less belligerent in its FOI responses.
The 'Freedom of Information' releases by #UKHE institutions really are the most fascinating pieces of abstract art.
Here's @qmul.bsky.social's about a Deputy Principal we may or may not have (not knowing how deputisation is agreed feels like a big deal? 🤷) www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/docu...
A UK university has addressed a staff complaint on senior misconduct by gagging complainant & prohibiting communication with large sections of university community
This is a violation of freedom of speech
Matter has been referred to MPs and Office for Students
Senior University administration recruits mainly from two populations
Those who did not succeed in academia
Those who made it all the way to professor, found nothing left to think about & sought fulfilment in meetings & money
This explains present condition of UK universities
The managerial career path in UK HE is a factory of corruption and incompetence.
Ultimately the real power of universities, whether in resisting their own corrupt management in the UK or a corrupt government in the US, depends on the reputation they have cultivated.
Abandoning respect for commercialisation led to deteriorating public support, and thus powerlessness.
Which formerly research institution in UK HE will adopt year round teaching first?
Management do not see any downsides here.
This will definitely happen.
If you work in UK HE and don't hate your senior management, then you are not paying attention.
Many are asking why the media and government do not care about the destruction of universities.
Ultimately this is a function of the sector's reputation with the public.
Uni management -- and UUK collectively -- has been in a position to manage that reputation.
What did they do?
A central part of maintaining corruption at UK universities is the installation of cronies with inflated salaries.
Most senior posts at universities are occupied by incompetent people who could NEVER make 150-250k in any other post.
So, they will never question policies that destroy the uni.
Really, vice chancellors (including recently departed ones) should donate all of their ill-gotten wealth to the universities they destroyed.
Or you are one of their cronies, siphoning off an inflated salary in exchange for compliance.
A central part of maintaining corruption at UK universities is the installation of cronies with inflated salaries.
Most senior posts at universities are occupied by incompetent people who could NEVER make 150-250k in any other post.
So, they will never question policies that destroy the uni.
