Major concerns at Durham! Rushed plan (no consultation with UCU/students!) to radically change teaching beyond #Covid19: 25% reduction of modules, outsourcing, online learning without due regard to pedagogical objectives... some coverage here: https://www.palatinate.org.uk/exclusive-university-proposes-online-only-degrees-as-part-of-radical-restructuring/ @ucuatdurham https://twitter.com/zenscara/status/1250411666942185472

Serious kudos to members on the ground + @ucuatdurham for moving rapidly to challenge this - with a 180-strong online EGM meeting in very difficult circumstances, following pressure that's already resulted in pushing back the date Senate. But *real* consultation is required here!

As quoted in @PalatinateNews the branch has no argument with moving quickly to support students during the turbulent times we find ourselves in. But this is no basis for long term change, especially that which involves slashing modules + upping outsourcing to private companies

It's not exactly secret that poorly justified financial 'decision-making' is a significant factor in this mess. Durham University took out a £225m 46-year bond in 2018 to fund *expansion* based on increasing international student recruitment... now #Covid19 threatens these plans

What do we call it when university SMTs move to expand without having any infrastructure in place, underestimate the costs involved, pressure staff to 'improve efficiency' without sufficient resources, then panic their way into a rushed 'strategic change' without consultation?

As @cupofassam highlighted recently, this = what some universities might've referred to as having 'de-risked' (their word) their 'exposure' (their word) to the 'home student market' (their words) and now they may have fewer home students to rely on... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/29/government-set-to-cap-university-admissions-amid-covid-19-chaos

Congress 2019 noted 'devastating impact' of extensive borrowing, complex financial arrangements + disproportionately ambitious building/property transactions of the institutions + affiliates which have been used by management to justify detriment on pay, pensions + conditions.'

Motion 51 called for critical financial accounting reviews to help challenge institutions undertaking so-called 'voluntary' or compulsory redundancies, precarity, outsourcing, or those expressing financial hardship to justify pensions contributions increases/benefits reductions>

(Motion text: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/10084/Business-of-the-recruitment-organising-and-campaigning-committee#51)

Much has been written already about the perils of marketisation and treating education as a commodity...

This debacle highlights dangers presented by managerialist, financialised approaches to HE that = failures on even their own terms. The kind of borrowing in the background of Durham's woes was not a clever or imaginative solution to these problems... nor is this slapdash proposal

A sensible answer surely cannot be 'plough ahead with short termist thinking, treat students as commodities + staff as interchangeable resource who can be piled under increasing pressure + intensify the resultant mess with further panicked decisions without proper consultation'

So, keep an eye on + solidarity with @ucuatdurham Durham. Watch what's happening locally. Look out for stealth moves under the veil of #covid19 'reasonable responses'. Consultation matters precisely because institutions make huge mess when they don't listen to staff + students.

@threadreaderapp please unroll