70% turnout, in case you were wondering whether we have an engaged membership ✌️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

University of Sussex staff vote in favour of strike over job cuts

Member of the UCU union back a strike over proposals to cut 200 jobs at the University of Sussex.

bbc.co.uk

Flew too close to the sun!

Dorian Lynskey@dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Feels like the right-wing press is scuttling back to the Tories. Their ideal, since the 1920s, is a Tory Party influenced by hard right insurgents rather than the insurgents themselves

It says a lot about which academic stories get media coverage that multiple non-academics I know asked me about the Jason Arday story, but no one I know outside of the academy had heard about the University of Minnesota paying $250,000 for rescinding a job offer to Raz Segal due to donor pressure.

Ketan Joshi@ketanjoshi.co · 2mo ago

Man, I only just caught with this story. What a tragic ending. www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/afdfd24...

Such a waste. Thinking of my friends & colleagues in History & across Hums. UH History is where I really learned *how* to teach & how to drive my teaching with my research. A dept that really cared about their students. So many brilliant & talented people in my old dept.

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 3mo ago

So it's farewell to the History subject area at the University of Hertfordshire, not the first nor the last to go. One of the best departments in the country, just extinguished like a snap of the fingers. Think of the waste. (1/2)

This is also the dream scenario of every UK HE VC.

Dr Dave Hitchcock@davehitchcock.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"Critics accuse the companies of cashing in by enticing ill-prepared people, often with few qualifications, to sign up for courses of variable quality and uncertain long-term benefit." that is the literal business model. GBS does not work without it.

UK HE's final form!

Dr Dave Hitchcock@davehitchcock.bsky.social · 3mo ago

If Global Banking School is the future of British Higher Education, count me out. Count everybody like me, out. Find someone else willing to pretend to teach you in decaying office buildings while taking your very real money.

'Academics fear they are being “set up to fail” after several institutions finished the academic year by announcing fresh job cuts, casting doubt over who will return after the summer break, and what courses they will be teaching.' 1/3

Summer of ‘chaos’ predicted as mass job cuts close academic year

‘Impossible to plan’ for research and teaching, say staff, as threat of redundancy looms large over summer breaks

timeshighereducation.com

Wow. Simultaneously being put at risk of redundancy and my new modules being abolished, while also being asked to put forward those same modules for TEF and Accessibility case studies. The sheer nerve.

So, @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social did a survey: www.ucu-unn.org.uk/news/335-str... @ucu.org.uk @uculeft.bsky.social @ucucommons.org @tuc.org.uk @tucneyh.bsky.social @hsegovuk.bsky.social @timeshighered.bsky.social @21group.bsky.social @ukhenews.bsky.social @ucea.bsky.social @wonkhe.bsky.social

The VC is responsible for SHU’s strategic vision and finances: profiles.shu.ac.uk/9998-liz-mos... Our members have questions about that vision: ucuhallam.org/sheffield-ha... #SaveSheffieldHallam @timeshighered.bsky.social sky.social @ukhenews.bsky.social sky.social @thestar.co.uk k @ucu.org.uk

The moment Smith was put in charge of HE, you knew the wind down of the sector was inevitable.

William Carruthers@williamcarruthers.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Reader, it didn’t

If your average VC were either (1) completely incompetent, but meant well and believed in the purpose of universities, or (2) they were completely corrupt but very clever at navigating economic and political realities, UK HE would probably still be doing ok. Sadly neither is the case.

Classic UK HE understatement.

Wonkhe@wonkhe.bsky.social · 5mo ago

NEW on Wonkhe: Established ideas of leadership are mismatched with the crisis in UK higher education. Lisa Colledge, Candy Rowe, Sarah Shenow and others reflect on the UKRI future leaders fellows development network summit wonkhe.com/blogs/academ...

WANTED -- those who brought Nottingham University to its present sad state Financial problems arose from decisions under previous VC Shearer West Those responsible have moved on, leaving current staff to deal with consequences of mismanagement 21percent.org?p=3647

The modern UK university is a witches brew of catering, events, accommodation and property, with a small side serving of education and research. Oh, and AI for everyone. I'm sure that'll all work out fine in the long term 😱

21 Group@21group.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Kent University's core mission should be teaching & research Now it's boldly pivoting to its true calling: luxury housing development Because nothing advances knowledge quite like paving over the countryside, urbanising villages & destroying wildlife www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

If your average VC were either (1) completely incompetent, but meant well and believed in the purpose of universities, or (2) they were completely corrupt but very clever at navigating economic and political realities, UK HE would probably still be doing ok. Sadly neither is the case.

Don't worry everyone, UUK has a plan: what if we marketed universities as places to get skills for employability!?

Universities UK@universities-uk.bsky.social · 9mo ago

This #NationalApprenticeshipWeek, we’re launching #FutureUniversities – a sector‑wide commitment to support skills, employability and routes into great jobs. As the world of work changes, unis will work with employers and communities to shape the skills the UK needs👇 https://loom.ly/kxabD6g

UUK was corrupt in the way they used international recruitment as a cynical cash grab. But they were incompetent in the way they did absolutely nothing to prepare for the inevitable political backlash.

Correct. From that day forward UK academics had as much "academic freedom" as anyone in any role. That probably wasn't so bad until the unis became cash-chasing jokes that judged academics on how many customers they could recruit.

Ronald Hartz@ronaldhartz.bsky.social · 6mo ago

"academic freedom has always been more of a myth than a reality in Britain, and insofar as it was real, it was fatally weakened by the removal of tenure in 1988" (Finn: Academic freedom in the modern British university) www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781788975919/book-part-9781788975919-7.xml

Yeah, pretty much.

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The time of the Anglophone university as we have known it is drawing to a close. They have been brought low from the inside, and without an unlikely rescue mission huge amounts of value will be destroyed. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04...

it's shocking that wealthy alumni do not want to fun the further destruction of their universities.

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 7mo ago

'At LSE, 7 per cent of its £553.3 million total income came from this source, compared with only 0.1 per cent at the University of Bristol.... Across the 24 universities, donations and endowments made up 2 per cent of total income last year – which was down slightly from 2.5 per cent in 2023-24.'

The latest WonkHE propaganda, decrypted: The Essex VC and cronies looted and pillaged a university for personal gain for over a decade, compulsively lying the entire time to council members like this one. Then he retired a multimillionaire. t.co/7ENKQvktQE

The latest WonkHE propaganda, decrypted: The Essex VC and cronies looted and pillaged a university for personal gain for over a decade, compulsively lying the entire time to council members like this one. Then he retired a multimillionaire. t.co/7ENKQvktQE

Genuinely hard to say who’s done more damage to UK universities Russell Group or UniversitiesUK Impressive work, either way😉 www.ft.com/content/bc2d...

Russell Group chief calls on wealthy alumni to help UK universities

Business should contribute more to help plug the funding gap, says Tim Bradshaw

ft.com

Vice Chancellors

Mother of God. We've reached peak UK HE.

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 7mo ago

‘Use AI to boost world-leading research in REF’, think tank urges. Report says AI could be harnessed to overcome systemic problems and improve research quality. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...

The same system that WonkHE had worked to uphold, you mean.

Wonkhe@wonkhe.bsky.social · 7mo ago

This week on Wonkhe: Students aren't confused about AI – they're making rational choices in a system that has removed the incentives to learn. Jim Dickinson and Mack Marshall preview findings from new research on learning in an age of AI

Comment: Research funding cuts threaten a whole generation of scientists UK will suffer lasting consequences from disrupted talent pipeline, say Mike Lockwood and James Wild, president and president-elect of @royalastrosoc.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

Research funding cuts threaten a whole generation of scientists - Research Professional News

UK will suffer lasting consequences from disrupted talent pipeline, say Mike Lockwood and James Wild

researchprofessionalnews.com

I have a 'History Department in UKHE' joke but it's been reduced from 250 characters to 50 and is now merged with jokes from across ten other largely-unrelated disciplines while still being expected to be Just As Funny.

Besides some superficial "free speech" stuff; there will be a doubling down on employability, which will of course further reduce employability. Meanwhile Reform will try to shut down most unis regardless, speed running the same "university isn't worth it, learn a trade" trend already taking hold.

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 7mo ago

'Universities must build bridges with populist parties and take steps to restore their legitimacy among the general public or face being recast as “convenient enemies” by the next Westminster government, according to a new report.' 1/2