Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 22h

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 · 2d

🥁 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

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 1d

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

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 2d

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 · 2d

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

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 2d

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 · 8d

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

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Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 3d

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

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Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 4d

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

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Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 5d

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 · 5d

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

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 3d

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 · 4d

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 · 5d

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 · 5d

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 · 6d

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

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 6d

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

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Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 8d

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 6 6

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 6d

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

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 6d

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

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 7d

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

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 7d

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

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 8d

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 6 6

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 11d

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

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Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 13d

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 · 13d

‘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

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 10d

Universities are rotting from within — symptomatic of a broader collapse in standards in public life

It's time for a revolution: transparency, accountability & individual responsibility in our universities

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 10d

Report on Australian Higher Education finds:

🔹️ Council members have no lived experience of universities

🔹️ Council members have COIs with consultancy firms

🔹️ Council meetings are closed affairs that lack transparency

🔹️ Leaders' exorbitant salaries could not be justified

One submission said leaders’ salaries could not be “justified by the quality of executive decision-making, nor by the scope of executive duties. The core business of a university – teaching and research – is co-ordinated virtually entirely by ordinary non-executive staff”.

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 11d

Chaos at Cardiff University, courtesy of the 'usual suspects', senior managers + £9m IT project

The ProVC writes "We will undertake a ‘lessons learned’ exercise ..."

Why take responsibility when you can form a new committee to tell you what everyone already knows?

nation.cymru/news/senior-...

Senior academic apologises for timetabling chaos at Cardiff University

Martin Shipton A senior academic manager at Cardiff University has apologised to staff for major disruption caused by the introduction of a new computer timetabling system before the start of the new ...

nation.cymru

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 11d

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

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 13d

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 · 13d

‘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

Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 15d

Former VC Shearer West masterminded £80m disaster

She graciously left it behind like an unwanted houseplant when she skipped off to Leeds Uni

Over spend on purchase of site led to many Uni staff losing jobs due to cutbacks to fund it

Strikes continue

www.nottinghampost.com/news/notting...

Uni spent £80m on controversial campus - but it's not what was first promised

Unions partially blame the campus' huge budget for hundreds of job losses

www.nottinghampost.com

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Reposted by 21 Group

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 17d

University's HR, Legal & senior management are squandering public money in legal cases/employment tribunals

Students, donors & Govt don't want funds wasted to shield poor management from accountability

This scandal explains why Labour Govt has been reluctant to give more funding to Universities

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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 14d

New blog posting

How a University deals with awkward allegations of plagiarism in academia

1 Lie & deny; 2 Attack the accuser; 3 Personal backstory of hardship; 4 Sham investigation

Works for bullying allegations as well

21percent.org?p=2688

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