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Dear members,
Welcome to your weekly newsletter. We need maximum attendance at the rallies outside council on Monday 24th November at 1pm and Tuesday 25th November at 10 am, outside Council on the south side of Trent Building. Council is meeting on these dates and is expected to confirm Future Nottingham Phase 2. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. We encourage you to download and distribute the poster for these rallies.
The course closures and our resistance continue to garner national media attention, most recently in articles in The Guardian and The Times, as well as bulletins on Sky News, BBC News, ITV News, and Times Radio.
Read on for the following topics:
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- How we fight on
- Course Closure Counter-proposals
- Meeting with MPs
- The University is ignoring its own Quality Manual
- Remember to vote in the national ballot
- Branch Committee meeting summary
- Campus Voices for Palestine
- Local and national campaigning
- Joining link and further information
How we fight on
In response to our industrial action, the university proposed a resolution that removed the threat of compulsory redundancies until 31st October 2026 and introduced a negotiation process over course closures. At the branch meeting on Thursday 13th November members voted to accept this offer. While we are not continuing our strike action for now, we are continuing our fight against Future Nottingham via ASOS and other targeted action since the administration has yet to back down on threats against 48 different courses.
This branch will continue to:
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- Put pressure on the University through ASOS until the end of our current mandate.
- Organise rallies to make sure the VC and UEB hear our discontent.
- Support and organise with students in our shared fight against these course closures.
Finally: if we do not see real movement by UEB to fix the mess they have created, we will open another dispute over course closures. The struggle continues – see the next sections for what action is being taken now to hold the University to account.
Course Closure Counter-proposals
We are producing a counter-proposal to challenge the University’s devastating plan to close 48 courses across areas including American and Canadian Studies, Biosciences, Education, Music, Nursing, and Social Work. The methodology behind these closures is opaque, statistically unsound, and steeped in metrics that are known to reinforce socio-economic and racial inequalities. Our counter-proposal will demand a pause to this process, full publication of data and modelling, and a shift towards an evidence-based, equitable approach.
Groups have already been formed to form the counter-proposals in each affected faculty, each headed up by a member of committee who works in the faculty. Jenny Elliot is heading up the over-all counterproposal, and we welcome inputs from members and non-members alike on the formation of these proposals at uonucubranch@gmail.com.
Meeting with MPs
This morning Branch Committee members met with local MPs Nadia Whittome, Lillian Greenwood and James Naish. They have agreed to write a public letter opposing this restructuring to the VC and head of council before decisions are made next week.
The University is ignoring its own Quality Manual
The University’s plan to close 48 courses appears to bypass key governance steps required by its own Quality Manual. The Manual clearly states that programme suspensions must have School endorsement and Faculty endorsement first (§4.1), yet no School or Faculty has been asked to approve these closures. Major academic changes must also be scrutinised by Senate committees – such as Education & Student Experience (ESE) and Quality & Standards Committee (QSC) – but none of these bodies have received papers or been allowed to review the process.
Instead, the University is taking the proposals straight to Council, skipping School governance, Faculty governance, Senate oversight, and the Quality Manual’s “outside regulation” processes. This is a serious breach of the University’s own rules, undermining academic standards, transparency, and due process and raises major governance and regulatory risks.
Remember to vote in the national ballot
The UCU national ballot is open until Friday 28th November. As such Departmental Reps will be asking you whether you have voted. If you haven’t yet found your ballot in its fetching pink envelope, then please order a replacement. Once you have voted, please inform your Rep or let UCU know directly.
Branch Committee meeting summary
Your Branch Committee met today, Wednesday 19th November and discussed:
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- Immediate steps in the opposition to Phase 2 restructuring
- Arrangements for rallies on Monday and Tuesday next week
The Committee also heard updates concerning:
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- Meeting of Branch Committee members with local MPs
- Open letter to University Council
- Counterproposals to course closures
The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com
Campus Voices for Palestine
The destruction of Gaza’s educational infrastructure and escalating assaults on higher education institutions in the West Bank has not silenced the voices of Palestinian educators and students who continue to resist erasure and genocide. On Thursday 27th November at 6 pm in Newton Building NG1 4BU, University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University UCU branches are co-hosting a lecture featuring Bayan Haddad, Lecturer in English Literature from Birzeit University. Attendees will explore what we can do here to end the complicity of our government and our own institution.
This event is part of the Campus Voices for Palestine Speakers Tour, which the branch also partook in last year. Book your free tickets here.
Local and national campaigning
Meet with a Cuban teacher
The local branches of the National Education Union and Cuba Solidarity Campaign are holding a public meeting today Wednesday 19th November at 6:30 pm at The Place, NG5 2JP. The guest of honour is Dr Lisette Rubio Madersos who will be speaking on the impact that the US blockade is having on the education system in Cuba.
Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
We encourage all members to sign Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s petition demanding that Nottinghamshire County Council divests from from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine
Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.
Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help TransActual advocate on this issue at a national level.
Joining link and further information
Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.
Donate to the branch hardship fund here!
Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!
Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!
Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 0800 562 561.
Yours sincerely,
L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee
Branch website: https://uonucu.org/