Staff and students of Winchester University came together on March 6 to protest the threats from management to axe around 20 lecturers and shut courses. 

The University and College Union (UCU) announced that the cuts come as part of the university’s plan to close courses in the departments of humanities and social sciences, business and digital technologies, and education and the creative arts. 

Faculty members and students gathered in the King Alfred Centre with banners and flyers to show their disappointment and frustration. 

A protesting lecturer from the department of humanities and social sciences, who asked not to be named, said: “We’ve gone from a situation where we felt like the university was kind of on our side and wanted to do everything they could to keep staff, to one where it really feels like they’re trying to make us all constantly afraid that we’re going to lose our jobs in order to try to get more work out of us.

“We’re just sick of being treated like we don’t matter when actually we’re the ones that kind of keep the university going.” 

She added: “It’s part of a general culture of fear that I think has been really developing at the university over the last few years.” 

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UCU have said that the staff facing job losses have been given only three weeks to accept voluntary severance packages before the university moves to compulsory redundancies. The redundancy threat comes amid ongoing industrial action over pay and working conditions. 

Hampshire Chronicle:

UCU regional official Moray McAulay said: “Our members are protesting against these job cuts because we do not accept that staff have to lose their livelihoods and believe management has not looked at alternatives like voluntary reductions in hours. Senior managers have also failed to answer questions from those at risk of losing their jobs. This has left staff morale at an all-time low with many now feeling unable to plan their lives or make a professional investment in the institution.” 

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Another protesting lecturer from the department of social sciences, who asked not to be named, added: “Many people will feel like they might be next. Those who are not formally affected this time, we are very much affected because we are afraid that this will happen to us.

“The people who are identified as vulnerable to redundancies, despite being called not needed by university management, are still doing useful work for the university because they are teaching on programs that have not been closed down.” 

She added: “We can still find work for these people. An employer that makes colleagues vulnerable to redundancies is obliged to find alternative work for them.” 

A Winchester University spokesman said: "The decision to close a very small number of courses in July 2024 has been taken carefully in the context of the difficult external circumstances being felt across the country. Universities are facing the reality of the declining value of frozen tuition fees over many years and sharply rising costs, including staff costs. If students are choosing not to study certain courses, there is no funding to continue to offer them to new students. Where a decision has been made to close a course, we will ensure that current students are supported to complete their studies in the usual way."