Latest news with #DrOwenClayton
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
University of Lincoln staff hold one-day strike
Staff at the University of Lincoln will strike on Friday over plans to cut University and College Union (UCU) said it would form a picket line and hand out flyers to prospective students visiting the campus for an open branch chair, Dr Owen Clayton, said industrial action was taking place because "the university hasn't ruled out compulsory redundancies".In a statement, the university said it aimed "to mitigate the need" for compulsory job losses. The dispute is over the university's proposals to cut up to 285 staff across a number of areas, including the Lincoln International Business School and the history Clayton said the university was "saying that they need to do this for financial reasons yet, at the same time, is hiring people and opening up new areas".He said the university was "pushing to have larger and larger class sizes", which the university denied. The university previously said the 285 figure was a "worst case scenario" and the UK higher education sector was "undergoing significant change".In a statement, it said it had "reduced costs" to "protect average class sizes" and was aiming "to mitigate the need for compulsory redundancies"."The changes we are making now respond to growing areas of student demand and the changing needs of our communities," it said."This includes the development of our healthcare provision which will deliver a highly skilled NHS workforce in our region." Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
No-confidence vote in University of Lincoln bosses is passed
A union representing academics has passed a vote of no confidence in the senior leadership team at the University of Owen Clayton, branch chair of the University and College Union (UGU), said a ballot on strike action was also being comes after the university announced in April that nearly 300 jobs were at risk.A spokesperson for the university said there was a "clear vision and plan" amid the financial pressures facing UK universities. The union branch represents all 1,500 academic staff at the university, whether they are members or not, said Dr said the vote of no confidence was in response to "the direction the university is going in and the decisions that have been made".He added: "They are talking about cutting up to 285 jobs... but they are also talking about changing the nature of the university, saying that certain parts of the university don't matter anymore and we can get rid of them."He said the cuts would fall across a number of areas, including the Lincoln International Business School, the history department and the Eleanor Glanville Institute – an equality, diversity and inclusion institute that works to inform policies and practices at the the ballot, the union called on the university's board of governors to act."We want [them] to do something because the staff don't have confidence in their leaders anymore," Dr Clayton described the relationship with university leadership as "acrimonious" but added that the dispute would end if compulsory redundancies were ruled out."If they don't, we could be looking at strike action over the summer but also at the start of the next semester," he said. 'Careful management' A university spokesperson said: "As winner of the Queen's Anniversary Prize and one of the few UK universities to hold triple gold status in the national Teaching Excellence Framework, the university has a clear vision and plan to keep delivering for our students and communities amid the financial pressures facing UK universities."A recent report from the Office for Students predicts nearly half of universities will return a financial deficit in 2024/25. We expect to achieve a break-even position due to careful management of finances over the past two years."The changes we are making now are key to adapt to the new higher education landscape."The university said the board of governors had "full confidence" in the senior leadership team. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
