Higher Education E-Bulletin
Issue 34 February 2009
Contents
Colleges braced for harsh cutbacks
Supporting the economy a key priority for universities
Imperial College Students Union Recognition Win
The Campus Engage International Conference 2009
Bargaining Brief
A security boost for physics
Risks
Hundreds rally to fight cuts at London Met
UK Economy – TUC Site
Colleges braced for harsh cutbacks
Independent.ie, John Walshe Education Editor, January 28 2009
Staff at two universities have been called to urgent meetings to be told of severe cuts.
They include pay restraint, a freeze on filling most vacancies, restrictions on travel to conferences abroad, reductions in funding for schools and departments, and higher charges.
In Cork, University College Cork (UCC) president Dr Michael Murphy addressed staff yesterday. It will be UCD's turn tomorrow. In the meantime, 'An Bord Snip' is looking for information from the universities to see where they can make further savings.
Staff in UCC have already had their pay frozen for a year and contracts have not been renewed for many non-permanent employees.
Dr Murphy told yesterday's meeting the university would try to work through the difficulties without any job cuts.
Click here to read the complete story:
http://www.independent.ie/education/latest-news/
colleges-braced-for-harsh-cutbacks-1616852.html
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Supporting the economy a key priority
for universities
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (National),22 January 2009
Supporting the economy through the recession and building a framework for the future of higher education are the two key priorities Universities Secretary, John Denham has set for the sector.
In his annual grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) John Denham has asked the Council to support and encourage the sector to use its huge resources to help deal with the consequences of the current economic climate and to lay the foundations for the future.
With equal priority, Denham has also asked for advice while developing a framework for the next 10 - 15 years to ensure that the higher education system remains world class in years to come.
He also recognises the need for HEFCE to maintain high levels of funding for those institutions with the largest volumes of world-class research whilst nurturing pockets of excellence elsewhere. John Denham will also ask HEFCE to explore ways to remove barriers to research partnerships between universities and both charities and businesses.
He also confirmed following indications in October that there will be funding for 10,000 additional student numbers this year. This means that in 2009/10 there will be 30,000 more funded students than in 2007/08. Numbers for 2010/11 will be allocated later in the year.
Click here to read the complete story:
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=390443&
NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False
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Imperial College Students Union
Recognition Win
In December members at Imperial College Students Union won recognition for all casual staff. The employees being covered are mostly students who work on casual contracts. Commenting on the new agreement National Student Co-ordinator David Braniff-Herbert said 'The Student Union recognition win here marks the first of its kind for our student campaign, we look forward to building more agreements at Students Union across the UK '. Unite's Working Student Campaign has been running for over two years and has seen over 500 students join our Union.
If you would like to know more or would like to receive Student booklets and applications for this campaign, contact David Braniff-Herbert via email: David.Braniff-Herbert@UnitetheUnion.com. There is also a dedicated website for the campaign: www.UniteWorkingStudents.org
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The Campus Engage International
Conference 2009
Higher Education and Civic Engagement Partnerships: Create, Challenge, Change.
Venue:
Campus Engage would like to invite you to its inaugural conference at Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin, Ireland. between June 4th-5th 2009. Higher education academics and administrators, people involved in community organisations and students, from Ireland and beyond are welcome.
The 2009 Campus Engage International conference will provide participants from community and higher education with an opportunity to discuss the potential for change offered by civic engagement partnerships in areas such as service learning / community-based learning, research, civic education and volunteering.
Four general conference themes related to higher education and civic engagement partnerships have been identified:
Philosophy
Practice
Policy
Partnership
Submissions are welcome from individuals but we also encourage collaborative contributions blending community, student and academic perspectives. While not exclusive, preference will be given to submissions that address the general conference themes outlined above.
The conference website link is:
http://conference.campusengage.ie/site/view/65/
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Bargaining Brief
The latest Bargaining Brief (BB), January/February 2009, can be found at:
http://extranet.tgwu.org.uk/home.php?page_id=7&group_id=4
If you have any questions about BB please contact;
Steve Martin
Research Officer,
Unite the Union,
Amicus section
Mobile no: 07918 640597
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A security boost for physics
Institute of Physics, 30 January 2009
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has announced that it will make permanent an allocation of £25 million each year to secure the higher education provision of strategically important subjects, including physics, from 2010 onwards.
Subjects such as physics, chemistry and chemical engineering are more expensive for universities to provide because of the increasing cost of laboratory facilities. In 2007, HEFCE allocated £75 million for three years to ensure the availability of courses in these strategically important subjects.
Peter Main, director of education and science at the Institute of Physics , said, “I am delighted with HEFCE's commitment to safeguard the long-term sustainability of university physics provision. This announcement sends a positive message of the government's support for physics and the contribution that physics graduates make to the UK 's economy.”
Source link:
http://www.iop.org/News/jan09/news_32595.html
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Risks
Risks is the TUC's weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 16,000 subscribers and 1,500 on the TUC website. To receive this bulletin every week go to:
http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-15891-f0.cfm#tuc-15891-25
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Hundreds rally to fight cuts at London Met
Rebecca Attwood, The Times Higher Education, 05 February 2009
Hundreds of staff and students have protested against the potential loss of as many as 500 jobs at London Metropolitan University.
The rally took place as the university's governors met last week to discuss the Higher Education Funding Council for England's plan to claw back millions of pounds in funding that London Met has been overpaid owing to problems with the university's data on student dropouts.
Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP for Islington North, has launched an early day motion arguing that the scale of cuts throws the future viability of the university into doubt and undermines efforts to widen participation.
The motion, which has been signed by 13 MPs to date, urges the university to reverse staff cuts and commit to "a thorough exploration of all potential non-staff savings through meaningful consultation with staff and campus unions".
As Times Higher Education reported last month, the university's University and College Union branch said that London Met could be asked to pay back as much as £50 million.
Hefce has confirmed that it is looking to retrieve money the university has been overpaid in previous years in addition to imposing a £15 million cut in the university's grant for 2008-09.
Click here to read the complete story:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?
sectioncode=26&storycode=405287&c=2
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UK Economy – TUC Site
The TUC publishes regular expert analysis of the UK economy and our place in the world. Here there are links to their most recent economics briefings and reports.
Their UK Economy site can be found at:
http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/index.cfm
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This e-bulletin has been produced by Rick Graham, Unit Researcher for the Higher Education sector. If you have any news items or stories you would like included in this bulletin please contact Rick at:
Rick.Graham@unitetheunion.com
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