Email sent to members on Monday 6th July 2026.
As part of our campaign to defend jobs and working conditions at the University of Nottingham, we will be sending regular emails, authored by different UCU members, examining key elements of management’s restructuring plans. Today we elaborate on the tunnel vision driving current restructuring plans. Feel free to share this post with non-UCU members in your area.
Tunnel vision all the way!
Management had a golden opportunity to bring the current industrial dispute to a close providing space for completing all the necessary marking in time for graduation. Our financial counterproposal has demonstrated how the necessary savings can be obtained without redundancies. And even if management was not convinced by every detail of the proposal, the more than 300 applications for voluntary redundancy could, even should have given management the confidence to rule out compulsory redundancies and guarantee some degree level provision in those areas currently earmarked for full closure. And yet, management chose not to do this. Instead, they made two paltry offers, which were both soundly rejected by UCU members. And not only this, management even inflamed the situation further by deducting pay for weekends.
It is very clear that management is neither concerned about students’ interests nor is it worried about the impact on UoN’s reputation. It is driven by a tunnel vision, focusing on the implementation of its ill-conceived Future Nottingham plans. There is no support for management’s plans, not from staff, nor from students, nor from local councillors and MPs. Senate overwhelmingly voted twice against them, reports in the media are scathing. And yet, management proceeds regardless.
This is not the first time that such a tunnel vision has underpinned management decision-making. In Senate meeting after Senate meeting, elected members of Senate had pointed out the folly of acquiring Castle Meadow Campus (CMC). And again and again, management, of which many are still in key positions in UoN, brushed aside concerns arguing that CMC would be an investment into the future of the university. I still remember well the moment when David Park, the Dean of the Business School, boldly stepped to the microphone in Senate, declaring that the Business School was delighted about the opportunities CMC offered for its expansion. If the rooms were not suitable for teaching, then the Business School would simply need to adjust its way of teaching.
UCU too warned management against the acquisition and redevelopment of CMC. As late as the Autumn of 2024, we were still told that we would be given a special tour of the premisses so that we could understand its potential. Over the course of 2025, CMC was suddenly less and less mentioned, our guided tour never took place. Eventually, it became clear that CMC was being prepared for sale in parts or whole. Management’s tunnel vision had resulted in the loss of £65 million.
Future Nottingham, driven by the same tunnel vision, will also result in disaster. The damage this time, however, is likely to be much bigger, undermining the future of UoN as a whole. This is why our struggle against Future Nottingham is not only about defending jobs of our members or securing the interests of students. It is after all also about ensuring a future for our university. We must hold the line!
On behalf of the Branch Committee