Union fighting job cuts at Cardiff University calls for top academics to have fellowships suspended

Martin Shipton

A trade union whose members at Cardiff University are fighting 400 job cuts and the closure of five Schools have called on the Learned Society of Wales to suspend fellowships previously awarded to the university’s two most senior academics.

The University and College Union (UCU) has issued a statement calling on the Society to take the action against Cardiff University’s Vice Chancellor Wendy Larner and Deputy Vice Chancellor Damian Walford Davies.

‘Brutal’

The statement says: “Prof Larner and Prof Damian Walford Davies have put forward proposals to cut 400 academic staff across Cardiff University and completely close research and degree courses in five disciplines, including Music, Modern Languages, Nursing, Ancient History and Religion and Theology.

“While Higher Education finances are under immense pressure, Cardiff UCU are clear that these cuts are unnecessarily brutal. The proposals are already having a catastrophic effect on the reputation of the institution and of wider Wales as a place of learning, while applications to study these subjects at Cardiff are evaporating.

“Cardiff UCU call on the Learned Society of Wales to immediately suspend the Fellowships of Profs Larner and Walford Davies – if the society genuinely upholds the pursuit of knowledge in Wales and is committed to addressing challenges both locally and globally, it cannot, in good conscience, include among its fellows those who have revealed themselves to be the foremost adversaries of learning in Wales.”

‘Increasingly concerned’

The Society earlier issued a statement of its own, which said: “As Wales’ National Academy, the Learned Society of Wales has been increasingly concerned that Welsh universities are operating within a difficult financial context. Economic strain, the impacts of immigration policy on international student numbers, and Brexit have all contributed to this UK-wide crisis. As we highlighted in our response to the Welsh Government’s latest draft budget consultation, and the recent Medr Strategy consultation, underinvestment in research is a false economy, and risks jeopardising the significant contribution that research and innovation makes to much-needed economic growth.

“In light of recent announcements by Cardiff University, in relation to its proposed reorganisation and job losses, we ask that the consultation is transparent and seeks to mitigate the worst of the possible impacts.

“Our first concern is with the individual staff at the university, many of them Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales and members of our Early-Career Researcher Network, who face uncertainty about their futures. They should know the full basis for decisions that affect their livelihoods. We expect Cardiff University to make available the data that informed their initial proposals.

“Access to this data will help shape the alternative plans that the university has invited as part of the consultation. Staff need to have their views and alternative proposals, in relation to vital courses and named degrees, properly considered.

“The proposed job losses would be felt across many academic schools. The potential loss of nursing would, as the Royal College of Nursing states, threaten the ‘pipeline of registered nurses into the largest health board in Wales’ at a time when the NHS faces a severe staffing crisis.

“We are concerned that arts and humanities subjects are facing significant, disproportionate cuts, and that modern languages, music, ancient history and religious studies are likely to be discontinued. Arts and humanities research underpins a significant portion of the higher education sector’s impact within Wales, including our creative industries and our cultural life. Our recent report, Changing the narrative: Valuing Arts and Humanities degrees, noted that arts and humanities graduates are particularly well equipped with the kinds of transferable skills that employers require, such as creative and analytical thinking. Indeed, many of the most future-proofed skills in our rapidly changing world are core to the arts and humanities (such as critical thinking and creativity, as identified by the World Economic Forum). Any reduction to these degree subjects would undermine economic potential and social cohesion for the whole of Wales.

“Wales’ higher education institutions play a vital role as anchor institutions in their communities. They foster positive change and innovation in the social, economic, environmental, and cultural life of the cities and towns they are part of. We call on Cardiff University’s management to join us in doing all we can to strengthen and sustain that role.”

‘Tepid’

A UCU source described the statement as “quite tepid” in comparison with those issued by other learned societies, including those covering Maths and Music.

Responding to the UCU’s call for the two academics to have their fellowships suspended, a spokesperson for the Learned Society of Wales said: “LSW believes the case and recommendations in the statement we put out in response to the Cardiff University announcement is, at this point in time, the best way of trying to ensure that Cardiff University maintains its strong role as an anchor institution for the city and within Wales’ social, economic and cultural life.”