Job cuts have been announced at the Open University and at Liverpool University.
Cuts at the Open University would result in 41 degree courses being axed, leaving only 71, reducing the number of courses available by a third. The University plans to save £100m from its £420m annual budget, yet the University has spent £2.5m on consultancy fees to KMPG.
From money put aside for redundancies, the UCU estimates that the University is planning for at least 250-300 voluntary redundancies in the coming year, and for compulsory redundancies to follow.
The University of Liverpool, whose Vice-Chancellor is President of UUK, has announced plans to cut at least 220 jobs.The plan is apparently motivated by a wish to improve rankings for teaching and research and become a ″top 100 university globally″.
Yet students surveyed by the Higher Education Policy Institute (P48) said if universities wanted to save money they should cut spending on “buildings” and “sports and social facilities”.
When asked what they should not cut, their top answers were “learning facilities”, “teaching hours”, “student support services” and “academic support”.
