Students should get compensation if universities are not able to deliver teaching Financial accountability should follow failure to deliver It's only way to get senior leadership to listen to students ... and staff www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Goldsmiths fine art students call for compensation over record tutor strike

With industrial action over job cuts heading into its 21st week, students at famed London college are unhappy

theguardian.com

Cambridge academics still enjoy something like tenure: statutory protection against redundancy that most UK academics lack This is now under threat. This distinctive job security could go next Another tornado is heading for storm-tossed Cambridge 21percent.org?p=4743

This looks like abuse of public funds A Vice-Chancellor earning over £500,000 claims expenses for his wife’s travel, including a “philanthropic engagement” in New York and a “spouse programme” in Switzerland How is this acceptable? Is it not fraud? www.thetimes.com/uk/education...

UCL vice-chancellor forced to repay wife’s £5,000 travel expenses

Michael Spence’s pay package is worth £530,000. His spouse is a PhD student researching ‘the materiality of colour’

thetimes.com

Cambridge academics still enjoy something like tenure: statutory protection against redundancy that most UK academics lack This is now under threat. This distinctive job security could go next Another tornado is heading for storm-tossed Cambridge 21percent.org?p=4743

Superb article by Aljazeera on bullying & harassment in Universities Priority isn’t justice It’s protecting the institution, its reputation & its money When the system destroys victims & shields power, it isn’t broken It’s working as designed aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

A junior academic at Cambridge disclosed a past suicide attempt The response? No follow-up. No investigation Meanwhile, the University continues to fund legal costs defending the Professor who bullied the academic Cambridge talks of change. Where is it? No surprises 21percent.org?p=4729

How to destroy your departmental rival in 3 easy steps: 1. Make serious allegations. Evidence optional 2 Let rumour do the work while your rival’s reputation burns 3 Count on HR to swallow the story if you’re an institutional favourite A major problem at many universities now

Superb article by Aljazeera on bullying & harassment in Universities Priority isn’t justice It’s protecting the institution, its reputation & its money When the system destroys victims & shields power, it isn’t broken It’s working as designed aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

How to destroy your departmental rival in 3 easy steps: 1. Make serious allegations. Evidence optional 2 Let rumour do the work while your rival’s reputation burns 3 Count on HR to swallow the story if you’re an institutional favourite A major problem at many universities now

A junior academic at Cambridge disclosed a past suicide attempt The response? No follow-up. No investigation Meanwhile, the University continues to fund legal costs defending the Professor who bullied the academic Cambridge talks of change. Where is it? No surprises 21percent.org?p=4729

Superb article by Aljazeera on bullying & harassment in Universities Priority isn’t justice It’s protecting the institution, its reputation & its money When the system exhausts victims & shields power, it isn’t broken It’s working as designed aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

US universities are failing to protect victims of sexual assault

The Cornell case shows how university bureaucracy discourages complaints and shields institutions.

aljazeera.com

735 staff applying for voluntary redundancy at Ulster University Nearly a quarter of the workforce wants out! You can blame the funding model, but when the exodus is this huge University leadership cannot dodge the question: how did it get this bad? www.timeshighereducation.com/news/nearly-...

Nearly a quarter of Ulster University staff apply for redundancy

Number of people wanting to leave institution far outweighs expectations, signalling lack of confidence in future direction, says UCU

timeshighereducation.com

"Harvard spent ~$210m on legal expenses in 2026, 10 times what it spent just a few years ago" UK university legal bills are soaring too, but costs remain shrouded in secrecy Staff & students pay the price Senior managers & lawyers feast on public funds www.facultyleaks.com/p/university...

The Next Budget Crisis in Higher Ed: Legal Bills

Universities are spending millions on legal expenses while cutting jobs and graduate admissions. And the people responsible for costly decisions rarely pay the price.

facultyleaks.com

Universities in Northern Ireland, Wales & Scotland are under grim financial pressure Jobs & courses at risk Why, then, does the Oxford–Cambridge corridor command such priority? Two-tier university system is no national strategy www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

NI universities face 'substantial' cuts amid budget delay

Both Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University are expected to have financial deficits in 2025/26.

bbc.co.uk

Universities in Northern Ireland, Wales & Scotland are under grim financial pressure Jobs & courses at risk Why, then, does the Oxford–Cambridge corridor command such priority? Two-tier university system is no national strategy www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

NI universities face 'substantial' cuts amid budget delay

Both Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University are expected to have financial deficits in 2025/26.

bbc.co.uk

False allegations are now routine in academia A Cambridge University professor made 18 allegations against 3 colleagues. No evidence ever provided All 3 endured years of incompetent HR investigations The accuser? No consequences Accountability? None

False allegations are now routine in academia A Cambridge University professor made 18 allegations against 3 colleagues. No evidence ever provided All 3 endured years of incompetent HR investigations The accuser? No consequences Accountability? None

Wonder when we'll see HE leadership ever held to account for their disastrous management of the sector. Government & funding regimes haven't helped obviously but investments and the money given to management consultants have been catastrophic waste of taxpayer cash + our students' future earnings.

21 Group@21group.bsky.social · last wk.

University administrators + property: the deadly combo They budget for the build, but forgot the upkeep After spending 800k, Ulster University decide running costs are unaffordable Turns out buildings don’t maintain themselves 🤦 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

University administrators + property: the deadly combo They budget for the build, but forgot the upkeep After spending 800k, Ulster University decide running costs are unaffordable Turns out buildings don’t maintain themselves 🤦 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ulster University: £800,000 spent on scrapped sports dome plans

Ulster University has also revealed the multi-million pound dome would have cost a further £1m to run each year.

bbc.co.uk

After losing employment tribunal brought by a professor, Cambridge University commissioned a review Now review panel faces criticism over its composition, raising concerns about credibility Little confidence that awkward findings will be addressed www.varsity.co.uk/news/32259

Uni sets out terms for whistleblowing review

The review's panel comes after the University lost an employment tribunal case brought by astrophysics professor Wyn Evans

varsity.co.uk

"Harvard spent ~$210m on legal expenses in 2026, 10 times what it spent just a few years ago" UK university legal bills are soaring too, but costs remain shrouded in secrecy Staff & students pay the price Senior managers & lawyers feast on public funds www.facultyleaks.com/p/university...

The Next Budget Crisis in Higher Ed: Legal Bills

Universities are spending millions on legal expenses while cutting jobs and graduate admissions. And the people responsible for costly decisions rarely pay the price.

facultyleaks.com

After losing employment tribunal brought by a professor, Cambridge University commissioned a review Now review panel faces criticism over its composition, raising concerns about credibility Little confidence that awkward findings will be addressed www.varsity.co.uk/news/32259

Uni sets out terms for whistleblowing review

The review's panel comes after the University lost an employment tribunal case brought by astrophysics professor Wyn Evans

varsity.co.uk

University administrators + property: the deadly combo They budget for the build, but forgot the upkeep After spending 800k, Ulster University decide running costs are unaffordable Turns out buildings don’t maintain themselves 🤦 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ulster University: £800,000 spent on scrapped sports dome plans

Ulster University has also revealed the multi-million pound dome would have cost a further £1m to run each year.

bbc.co.uk

At Cambridge, whistleblowing carries a heavy price But those who retaliate against whistleblowers face no consequences Allegations of misleading evidence in court or lack of candour have also not, so far, resulted in any apparent accountability 21percent.org?p=4644

Prof David Sabatini has scored major legal victory Jury upheld defamation claims against Kristin Knouse & awarded damages This doesn’t settle all questions about his conduct at MIT ... but raises concerns about how universities investigate such cases www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/u...

David Sabatini, an M.I.T. Scientist, Wins $6 Million in Sexual Harassment Defamation Suit

David Sabatini, once a prominent scientist at M.I.T., sued a former colleague who accused him of inappropriate behavior. A jury found in his favor.

nytimes.com

At Cambridge, whistleblowing carries a heavy price But those who retaliate against whistleblowers face no consequences Allegations of misleading evidence in court or lack of candour have also not, so far, resulted in any apparent accountability 21percent.org?p=4644

I wonder whether university administrators retain the ability to distinguish between lies and truth... It seems to me their overriding directive is to say only what is convenient at any given moment, leading sometimes to contradictory statements within the same conversation.

Research-integrity campaigner and microbiologist @elisabethbik.bsky.social has suggested that universities commission independent investigations from a pool of experienced, semi-retired academics who would be paid for the work —Wyn Evans @21group.bsky.social @nature.com lnkd.in/p/e9acntuu

Whistleblowers in university or research institute settings need greater protection. See https://lnkd.in/deXQi9Qn for a survivor's guide to whistleblowing. | Krzysztof Potempa

Whistleblowers in university or research institute settings need greater protection. See https://lnkd.in/deXQi9Qn for a survivor's guide to whistleblowing.

lnkd.in

Cornell University faculty debate vote of no confidence in their President “Rape is treated as a PR problem rather than a heinous crime” University leaders who treat the law as optional must be held to account Where Cornell leads, who will follow? spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-...

Cornell Faculty Senate debates no-confidence vote in administration

The measure was introduced in response to Jane Doe's 2024 gang rape allegations.

spectrumlocalnews.com

All trade unions on strike at Glasgow Caledonian University Lecture rooms closed, campus shut It’s time for students to demand compensation for disrupted courses Make senior management listen where it hurts them most -- finances😉 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Fourth union joins strike at Glasgow Caledonian University

Staff with the Unite union are to join colleagues from the UCU, the EIS and Unison in walking out on Thursday.

bbc.co.uk