Motion of no confidence in vice chancellor after job cuts

UTS have left a Welsh university in chaos with only two weeks to go before term starts, academic union UCU claims.

- ABBIE WIGHTWICK

With 200 jobs gone in the latest savings at Bangor University, there is no clarity on who will be teaching what, the branch chair said.

Members have passed a motion of no confidence in vice chancellor Professor Edmund Burke and chief financial officer Martyn Riddleston. ‘The vote was passed at an extraordinary general meeting on August 18 by members of Bangor UCU with no opposition to the motion. ‘The branch leadership said it delayed the publication of the vote with the aim of reaching a negotiated settlement with management.

Now the branch said “university management have decided to plough ahead with their cuts strategy” so they have gone public.

Bangor’s latest job losses were a bid to save more than £15m, with higher education across the UK beset by rising costs and a fall in numbers of higher paying international students.

Bangor UCU vice-president Vivek ‘Thuppil said: “Our members have been pushed to breaking point. With the departure of hundreds of staff already they are already facing impossible workloads.

“With only two weeks to go until classes begin, departments still do not have clarity on who is teaching what.”

One staff member said: “Senior management have not been forthcoming about their financial plans moving forward beyond some unspecified comments about pursuing growth”