Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 9h

> 10000 university jobs lost in 2024-25

"People could, even if they lost their job, get a job at another institution. That's not happening now"

"They're probably looking not only at the end of the a job, but really the end of their career in academia."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens

University workers will vote on national strike action this month over a 1.4% pay offer made in the summer.

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 2d

Lavish Vice Chancellor pay has 2 effects

First, it worsens staff morale & destroys public perception of universities

Second, it fosters culture where everyone feels entitled to take what they can. If the leadership does it, why shouldn’t they?

This moral decay is very damaging

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 4d

🥁 LIVE THIS THURSDAY AT 7PM: EXPOSING VICE CHANCELLOR HYPOCRISY

Vice chancellors take record pay while staff face cuts, redundancies and impossible workloads.

Join us as we expose the hypocrisy at the top of UK universities.

www.youtube.com/live/rZRbCP0...
#WeAreTheUniversity

LIVE: Exposing Vice Chancellors across the UK - VOTE YES #WeAreTheUniversity

YouTube video by UCU - University and College Union

www.youtube.com

2 2

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 1d

Dennis Shaw, a former Oxford University physicist, died in 2017 from cancer linked to asbestos exposure

Internal audits (2019–2020) showed that many of university’s buildings containing asbestos were not properly surveyed & risks not properly managed

www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/2552472...

University denies cancer-inducing asbestos risk despite audit documents

The University of Oxford has denied that asbestos in its buildings could cause cancer despite successive audits showing non compliance.

www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk

3

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 1d

Vandals who set Leicester University ablaze move on to Bangor

Vote of no confidence in vice chancellor Prof Burke & finance officer Riddleston

As is typical, VC & senior managers add no value -- only expense, dissent & chaos

Welsh universities are burning down

nation.cymru/news/bangor-...

Bangor University staff pass no confidence vote against senior leadership

Union members at Bangor University have passed a vote of no confidence in vice-chancellor Prof Edmund Burke and chief finance officer Martyn Riddleston, as tensions mount over job cuts and budget redu...

nation.cymru

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 1d

Swansea University staff have voted no confidence in Vice Chancellor after announcement of £30m in cuts, £25m from staffing

400 staff have already left through voluntary severance & 200 vacancies frozen

The destruction of Welsh universities accelerates

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Vote of no confidence in Swansea University vice chancellor over job cuts

UCU members at Swansea University pass a vote of no confidence in its vice chancellor due to job cuts.

www.bbc.co.uk

3 1

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 4d

This week’s updates:

Sheffield, Dundee, Lancaster, Bangor and Oxford Brookes Universities –- ongoing ballots

Imperial College, Sheffield Hallam and Uni West of Scotland –- strikes being scheduled

Strike action will be endemic across the sector by 2026

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 10d

UK universities in or entering heightened stages of industrial action over job losses include:

Bournemouth, Bradford, Durham, Edinburgh, Greenwich, Kingston, Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool Hope, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth

This will only rise as term progresses

1 3

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 4d

Universities of Dundee, Kent, Brunel, Coventry & Swansea defer pay rises

Kent’s “review in the coming months” is temporal evasion at its finest, while Coventry’s “break even position” heroically rebrands “we won’t pay” as “fiscal courage”

The academic austerity opera continues

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 4d

At least five UK universities have told staff they will not be paying them the sector-wide uplift that was due in August for almost a year. Juliette Rowsell reports
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/five-uk-universities-tell-staff-they-cant-afford-pay-rises

10 9

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 2d

Lavish Vice Chancellor pay has 2 effects

First, it worsens staff morale & destroys public perception of universities

Second, it fosters culture where everyone feels entitled to take what they can. If the leadership does it, why shouldn’t they?

This moral decay is very damaging

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 4d

🥁 LIVE THIS THURSDAY AT 7PM: EXPOSING VICE CHANCELLOR HYPOCRISY

Vice chancellors take record pay while staff face cuts, redundancies and impossible workloads.

Join us as we expose the hypocrisy at the top of UK universities.

www.youtube.com/live/rZRbCP0...
#WeAreTheUniversity

LIVE: Exposing Vice Chancellors across the UK - VOTE YES #WeAreTheUniversity

YouTube video by UCU - University and College Union

www.youtube.com

2 2

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 3d

Cardiff University's globalist ambitions under fire

Please send VC Wendy Larner, the Board of Trustees & Council members to Astana, Kazakhstan ... permanently

Also add Prof Patrick Minford, the right-wing economist who backed the poll tax & Brexit

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Cardiff University defends Kazakhstan campus amid concerns

Hundreds of students have started lectures at the new campus, which is 3,712 miles from Cardiff.

www.bbc.co.uk

1

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 4d

Universities of Dundee, Kent, Brunel, Coventry & Swansea defer pay rises

Kent’s “review in the coming months” is temporal evasion at its finest, while Coventry’s “break even position” heroically rebrands “we won’t pay” as “fiscal courage”

The academic austerity opera continues

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 4d

At least five UK universities have told staff they will not be paying them the sector-wide uplift that was due in August for almost a year. Juliette Rowsell reports
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/five-uk-universities-tell-staff-they-cant-afford-pay-rises

10 9

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 4d

This week’s updates:

Sheffield, Dundee, Lancaster, Bangor and Oxford Brookes Universities –- ongoing ballots

Imperial College, Sheffield Hallam and Uni West of Scotland –- strikes being scheduled

Strike action will be endemic across the sector by 2026

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 10d

UK universities in or entering heightened stages of industrial action over job losses include:

Bournemouth, Bradford, Durham, Edinburgh, Greenwich, Kingston, Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool Hope, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth

This will only rise as term progresses

1 3

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 5d

New blog posting -- The Alternative Vice Chancellor's Annual Address

Cambridge must end victimising whistleblowers & early-career staff, reform its HR, ditch secrecy, fix pay & improve job security & transparency

Choice is ours -- fairness or silence

21percent.org?p=2757

2 2

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 6d

It's the classic university definition of restructure: fewer lecturers, more bureaucracy, heavier workloads

Staff must reapply for jobs at Teeside Uni

Restructure means that lecturer jobs will disappear with remaining staff told to do "more with less"

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/teessid...

Teesside told to rethink plans to cut research-focused roles

Almost 40 principal lecturer posts affected and 14 jobs lost in planned restructure, while staff at Imperial College London strike over ‘below inflation’ pay offer

www.timeshighereducation.com

2 2

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 7d

Wrecking UK universities carries political cost

University vote is heavily concentrated in key constituencies

Will Gov't realise before it’s too late?

They’re too busy chasing the Lab/REFORM swing voter that lives mostly in their spin doctors’ PowerPoints

@bphillipsonmp.bsky.social

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 7d

With levy-funded maintenance grants and 50 per cent target scrapped again, government’s vision for universities becomes clearer. But while rhetoric appears tough, experts see opportunities as education takes centre stage. Patrick Jack reports
https://ow.ly/bwXv50X5BgV

1 4

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 5d

New blog posting -- The Alternative Vice Chancellor's Annual Address

Cambridge must end victimising whistleblowers & early-career staff, reform its HR, ditch secrecy, fix pay & improve job security & transparency

Choice is ours -- fairness or silence

21percent.org?p=2757

2 2

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 6d

It's the classic university definition of restructure: fewer lecturers, more bureaucracy, heavier workloads

Staff must reapply for jobs at Teeside Uni

Restructure means that lecturer jobs will disappear with remaining staff told to do "more with less"

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/teessid...

Teesside told to rethink plans to cut research-focused roles

Almost 40 principal lecturer posts affected and 14 jobs lost in planned restructure, while staff at Imperial College London strike over ‘below inflation’ pay offer

www.timeshighereducation.com

2 2

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 7d

Wrecking UK universities carries political cost

University vote is heavily concentrated in key constituencies

Will Gov't realise before it’s too late?

They’re too busy chasing the Lab/REFORM swing voter that lives mostly in their spin doctors’ PowerPoints

@bphillipsonmp.bsky.social

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 7d

With levy-funded maintenance grants and 50 per cent target scrapped again, government’s vision for universities becomes clearer. But while rhetoric appears tough, experts see opportunities as education takes centre stage. Patrick Jack reports
https://ow.ly/bwXv50X5BgV

1 4

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 8d

In academia, ‘flexible hours’ really just means all hours are work hours

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 8d

Workload is the major factor forcing academics to quit their roles, with some of the perceived benefits of working in universities actually adding to the strain, finds a new study. Juliette Rowsell reports https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/benefits-working-academia-can-add-workload-stress

1 7

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 10d

UK universities in or entering heightened stages of industrial action over job losses include:

Bournemouth, Bradford, Durham, Edinburgh, Greenwich, Kingston, Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool Hope, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth

This will only rise as term progresses

1 7 7

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 8d

In academia, ‘flexible hours’ really just means all hours are work hours

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 8d

Workload is the major factor forcing academics to quit their roles, with some of the perceived benefits of working in universities actually adding to the strain, finds a new study. Juliette Rowsell reports https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/benefits-working-academia-can-add-workload-stress

1 7

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 9d

Student suicides are widely reported — rightly so, or nothing would change

University staff also die by suicide, often due to bullying or excessive workload

Institutions usually hush this up

Reliable statistics are needed amid today’s university stresses

@forthe100.bsky.social

1 7

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 9d

Student at Glasgow University took his own life after being wrongly told he had not earned geography degree

Three students die each week by suicide in UK universities

Rest in peace, Ethan Scott Brown

@forthe100.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Glasgow University accused of failing student who killed himself on graduation day

Ethan Scott Brown was wrongly told he had not earned geography degree despite marks being enough for a 2:1

www.theguardian.com

1 2

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 10d

UK universities in or entering heightened stages of industrial action over job losses include:

Bournemouth, Bradford, Durham, Edinburgh, Greenwich, Kingston, Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool Hope, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth

This will only rise as term progresses

1 7 7

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 13d

At a Newspaper, a damaging story about Consigliere University is set to run

The Vice Chancellor pushes to suppress it

Is the story dead?

Institutional complicity added to incompetence?

21percent.org?p=2723

2 3

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 15d

Zero tolerance to bullying & harassment in universities should mean zero victims — not 25%

Instead, it’s complainants & whistleblowers who face zero tolerance ... while bullies & harassers face zero consequences

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 15d

‘National scandal’: quarter of students suffer sexual harassment

‘Shocking figures’ show ‘devastating’ impact on students, with women and LGB people particularly vulnerable buff.ly/GAkO5Af

3 3