Swansea University is consulting on shedding 55 academic posts across a wide range of subjects as it grapples with its budget. The UCU union has warned in response that it will not rule out balloting members on industrial action.
A formal consultation has been launched on the cuts and compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out, although that would be a last resort, the university said. Swansea, which has 1,043 academic posts, said it was looking at a pool of 204 from which to shed 55 roles.
A spokesperson clarified that no departments have been singled out for closure and no staff members have received potential redundancy letters as yet, reports WalesOnline. The areas directly affected are understood to be the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science and Faculty of Science and Engineering.
This announcement comes a month after Swansea introduced a voluntary severance scheme for non-academic staff just before Christmas. In September, the university announced cuts of £30 million for this academic year, with £25 million expected to come from staff costs. The proposed reduction of 55 academic positions has now been confirmed in principle and is being formally consulted upon as part of the process, the university added.
In a statement, Swansea blamed financial pressures which it said were affecting institutions across the UK. In Wales, universities have cut thousands of jobs in recent years.
Swansea University Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Boyle (Image: Martin Ellard)
Bruising cuts and department closures at Cardiff University last year caused a huge outcry. A Swansea University spokesperson said: “The UK Higher Education sector is facing a number of challenges, exacerbated by significant changes to the international student recruitment context. In common with many other universities, Swansea University needs to make savings to ensure our future financial sustainability,”.
“To date, we have made progress towards securing those savings through the careful management of vacancies and the provision of a generous voluntary exit scheme for staff.
“In some academic areas, we have developed draft proposals to secure the remainder of the savings we require this year. We are now consulting on these draft proposals with our campus unions and colleagues.
“As compulsory redundancy remains a measure of last resort, we are also providing a further voluntary exit scheme opportunity to academic colleagues in those areas where further savings are still required.”
The university pledged to collaborate with campus unions to explore every available avenue to eliminate the threat of compulsory job losses, emphasising: “Our draft proposals do not contain any plans to close academic departments or disciplines”.
Reacting to the recent developments, Estelle Hart, chair of the Swansea University branch of the UCU union, expressed: “Urgent action is needed to save jobs at Swansea University. Swansea staff are facing a third year of budget cuts in the tens of millions, with no assurances that these fresh cuts will bring stability to the university which has announced that over 200 academic staff are at risk of redundancy with the local UCU branch not ruling out balloting members on industrial action.
“There’s only so much you can cut away and still have a university left at the end of the process. We’re not just fighting for our members’ jobs but to ensure that the high level of teaching and research delivered at Swansea University continues in South West Wales.
“The government must urgently look at a support package for higher education in Wales, and that funding must be conditional on saving jobs and providing longer term stability in the sector. Economic growth is impossible without a strong higher education sector and we’re calling on governments on both sides of the Severn to act before irreversible damage is done to universities.”
