Tag: members emails

Email sent to members on Monday 11th May 2026. Zoom/Teams links removed.

Dear UCU members, 

You will have heard by now about the drastic job cuts planned by our management. As the VC stated at the online and in-person staff meetings, ‘at risk of redundancy’ letters will be sent out tomorrow to more than 2500 staff members (). Thank you for the killer questions you asked at the VC meetings today and for the spontaneous clapping from the audience after each one of them.

Re: The letters. Do not despair. You are not alone. It is our collective strength which will see us through this crisis. We know that these cuts are not necessary, see the UCU counterproposal. The specific counterproposals, challenging the updated business case, shown to BC last Friday, are being prepared for the June deadline. We, exec, will continue to go to all the extra JNCC meetings on this. Our fabulous Reps are fully involved in discussions and always there for us. And of course,  it is now the time to move towards our industrial action and make sure that compulsory redundancies become the most difficult option. There are always alternatives and our collective action in the forthcoming Marking and Assessment Boycott will change the course of management’s restructuring plans. Talk to colleagues in your areas, plan jointly for industrial action and let’s stay the course together.

In particular we have organised an all-staff, cross-union meeting tomorrow (12th May) at 12.30-1.30. This is a wider chance for all staff to share how they are feeling in the wake of today’s news. After that, we have also organised a UCU-specific meeting at 1pm on the 18th of May to discuss the Marking and Assessment Boycott and strike action.

Solidarity,

Email sent to members on Tuesday 28th April 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 share the email and report we sent to members of university council – the main governing body of the university – who will decide on the futures of over 600 academics on May 5th and 6th. We urged them to rethink the university’s reckless plans and to consider a much more careful approach to university savings, presented in the 50-page report attached. Feel free to share this post with non-UCU members in your area.

Dear Council Members,

I’m writing to share the attached UCU report on Future Nottingham Phase 2.

I would strongly urge you, particularly our external members, to read this in full before endorsing the University Executive Board’s plans.

UEB’s current strategy is being presented as risk reduction. In reality, it is a high-risk approach that relies on cutting deeply into the University’s core academic capacity while assuming that student demand, research income, and reputation will somehow hold up. The evidence in this report suggests that is not a safe assumption.

What is being proposed is very fast, very large-scale change. The likely consequences are not abstract:

• student–staff ratios pushed well beyond Russell Group norms, with clear implications for rankings and recruitment (and no evidence to support UEB’s claim that such extreme SSRs will be replicated across the sector, despite a union request)
• reduced research capacity, with direct consequences for grant income and long-term reputation (the strategy speaks of “academic growth” but sets out no credible plan for achieving it, while actively cutting the capacity required to deliver it)
• loss of staff that is unlikely to be “controlled”, particularly among those most able to leave
• a real risk of a self-reinforcing cycle, where cuts reduce income, leading to further cuts and ongoing institutional decline

Put bluntly, there is a credible scenario here where the strategy meant to stabilise the University instead pushes it into decline. Our report sets out an alternative that still delivers substantial savings but does so in a much more controlled way. In particular, it shows how savings can be made through natural attrition and workforce rebalancing, delivering on the order of:

• ~£6–7m per year
• ~£20m over three years
• ~£34m over five years

These figures are grounded in observed staff turnover and avoid the costs and disruption associated with large-scale redundancies. Crucially, in contrast to UEB’s proposal, they do not depend on weakening the University’s core teaching and research capacity.

There are also serious concerns about governance which, frankly, should give Council pause.

The report documents repeated instances where:

• key decisions have been pushed through without proper process
• the information provided to Council has lacked the detail needed to test the proposals properly
• Heads of School have not endorsed plans that are being presented as if they have
• Equality Impact Assessments are incomplete or absent

More broadly, there is a growing disconnect between what is being reported upwards and what is being experienced across the University. Many school leaders are deeply concerned about the direction of travel. That is not being reflected clearly in the narrative reaching Council.

You should also be aware of the wider context. All three campus unions have passed votes of no confidence in the University’s leadership. UCU has now balloted for industrial action and secured strong support, with over 86% in favour of action. We also secured the highest turnout across the sector this year, reflecting widespread and escalating concern across the institution.

Council’s role here is critical. These are not routine decisions, and the consequences are not easily reversible. Endorsing a plan of this scale without properly stress-testing its assumptions, and without seriously considering alternatives, carries its own risks. Our ask is straightforward:

• please read the report in full
• ask for clear evidence, at school level, that the proposed cuts are deliverable without damaging core functions
• question whether the financial projections properly account for the risks set out above
• and give proper consideration to the alternative approach

There is still time to take a more measured path. There may not be a second chance to undo the damage if we get this wrong.

Yours sincerely,

UoN UCU Branch Committee

Email sent to members on Monday 27th April. Links updated.

You may have seen an article in Nottingham post that was published late on Friday. Please find link below. This was about proposed job losses indicated in a draft FN2 business case that had been shown to Senate and was going to Council for approval to consult with staff and Trade Unions. We were told that this document would come to us, UCU,  after the Council meeting. Unfortunately, however, as reported by the Post it confirms our worst fears and makes clear that our moving towards industrial action is absolutely necessary.

Council will take a decision on 6 May on the draft Business Case. We sent Council our counterproposal of how to confront the current financial situation, see attached.  Hopefully, Council will see sense and reject that management draft Business Case. 

Link to article

Full solidarity,