Zara Gladman 0

Glasgow University Graduates Against FBLS Cuts

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Petition statement:

As a graduate of the University of Glasgow, I oppose the staff cuts in the Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences.


Former students of Glasgow University are invited to stand together against the proposed cuts in the Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences(FBLS) at the University of Glasgow.

Without the high quality education delivered by FBLS during our degrees, many of us would not find ourselves in the positions of employment we occupy today.

These cuts will have severe negative impacts on the quality of education delivered to undergraduates and postgraduates and seriously damage the reputation of the University.


Background:
- Reductions in research funding and an unplanned increase in student intake this year meant that FBLS had a budget deficit of £2.5m
-The faculty saved over £1m through staff retiring and not renewing staff contracts- putting more pressure on existing staff
-This left a deficit of over £1m
- Senior Management are insisting that this deficit is filled before the end of the financial year, at the end of July (and before the University undergoes a re-structuring in August, in which FBLS, the Medical School and the Vet School are joined to form a 'College of Biomedical and Life Science').

- Reductions in technical, administrative and academic staff are planned, with academic staff suffering the biggest losses (18 Lecturer/Professor positions across the Faculty). Staff were selected based on how much research money they contribute to the Uni - so teaching staff are most at risk. It is impossible to predict where the losses are going to occur, and so extremely difficult to assess the impact on courses set to run in the 2010/2011 session. The loss of key members of staff will lead to the disruption/discontinuation of many courses. PhD students may also lose their supervisors. Remaining staff will have just 6 weeks before the start of session to 'pick up the pieces', filling vacant teaching slots and disrupting their own research (and the money it generates).
- There ARE alternative means of reducing the deficit (e.g. a 5% salary reduction for FBLS staff would prevent job losses. Incidentally, the University Principal, Anton Muscatelli, accepted a 7.8% pay rise this year and now earns more than the new Prime Minister). These alternatives were pitched to Senior Management by the Faculty Dean but fell on deaf ears. He has handed in his resignation.
- What's more, the University as a whole is NOT in deficit. For several years, the Medical faculty was in the red - but money was pulled from FBLS to buffer the losses. The Medical faculty is now in surplus (as is the Vet school) and as of August, the three faculties will exist as a single college with a SINGLE budget centre. Yet Senior Management continue to insist that FBLS makes its cuts prior to the merger (and has forbidden the pulling of funds from the other two faculties, as has been done in the past)

THE UNIVERSITY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO FIND THE MONEY TO FUND THE FBLS DEFICIT FROM ELSEWHERE AND HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO DO THIS.



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