UK Universities desperately need support from our government. Education should be free for everyone. Education is not a business. Education is key for a strong economy. Education is important for everyone's life and well-being. #Solidarity with @uonucu.bsky.social

This is just one of the many things wrong with UK Higher Education. We expect people to build careers on short term contracts of one - three years when so much of the job (like the REF) actually demands we develop projects over a longer period.

#ucu For anyone who might have missed it the first time around, here's Matt's brilliant blog on alienation in academia: blog.matthewbarnard.phd/a-world-with...

It's 5.15pm on Friday. Stop working. Go home. Put your feet up or do whatever you need to relax. This has been an incredibly grueling week for a lot of us. Your job doesn't own you and unions fought for better working conditions. You are entitled to rest and a private life!

Which isn’t how most of us train. Most of us train by research and that’s a core part of what we do and who we are, not a fun add-on.

And the quick and easy reply is that the discovery of graphene was hobbyist unfunded research. (Just one prominent, reasonably recent example.)

HUUUGE turnout this morning to demand protection for our jobs and our students' learning conditions. There is no deficit!!!

And now: an email in my inbox providing me with an update about te planned compulsory redundancies (1 in 4 employees btw) at my university Join a union

No time of day is going to be perfect in a university for a Big Email. But 7.45am isn’t in the standard working day: sure, some people were on their email then, but most were getting themselves + kids up and out for the day… maybe had the radio on, maybe looked at the BBC News app, maybe WhatsApp…

This is it exactly. If you really want great research outcomes then you really need to focus on creating the conditions for it via supportive, stimulating research environments and processes. But that means less managerialism and bureaucracy, and universities are too invested in both those things.

If you're on campus today in Canterbury we've got a table set up in the Gulbenkian from 12 noon. Come and chat to us! This was planned well before this week's news as an opportunity to see and talk to a UCU branch committee member - we'll be holding drop-in chats like this throughout term.

This is, as ever, a completely unevidenced statement designed to do one thing and one thing only: create a two-track sector where "research" happens only in the places deemed deserving of its warm reputational glow. The rest of us (often trained at some exceptional places ourselves) get to eat it.

::Insert any headline here you like::

Almost 4,000 courses have closed across UK higher education in the past year, with less selective universities most affected, according to new figures. @patrickjack.bsky.social reports #AcademicSky #EduSky

Today every colleague I've spoken to has expressed shock about this week's news of the Kent Greenwich merger. We're not shocked it's happening - there have been rumours for years. We're shocked at how we all found out. #AcademicSky

Sometimes solutions are easy @drjogrady.bsky.social & @ucu.org.uk Let’s sit down and talk without conditions or threats that damage everyone. It’s time to resolve this dispute. Our statement, with support from the following branch committees:

To celebrate The Cambridge Companion to Stand-Up Comedy being published by Cambridge University Press I present episode one of a series of videos. In each episode, I'll read out my favourite sentence from one of the chapters.

The Royal Literary Fund are offering grants to writers facing financial difficulties. If you're currently experiencing difficulties, such as an illness or unexpected bill, you might be eligible to receive support.

Instead of a staff survey this year we'll be asked about the Kent-Greenwich merger.

We've also been told that despite yesterday's news nothing will change - at least in the short/medium(?) term. That's something that remains to be seen. Let's hope we can have a quiet and dull term.

The Senior Leadership Team at Kent have just stated that we are NOT on the verge of insolvency. Any reporting that says the contrary is incorrect. This is reassuring for staff.

tbf I am still earning as a postdoc at 44 with a PhD and lots of publications and experience what I was earning in a postdoc role without a PhD in 2017. Not today’s equivalent, the exact same amount FTE

The first main session of our Staff Conference was business as usual which was sort of reassuring, but also generally avoiding the elephant in the room. There's a planned session this afternoon where staff can ask senior leadership anything. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone has any answers yet.

As someone who has been Extremely Online for more than 25 yrs, whose working life is one long hunt for weak signals/what's next, my advice for folks in the UK who don't really need to be on top of the news on an ongoing basis is to spend some regular time tuning out over the next few days

Today is the first day of our annual Staff Conference at Kent. It's opening with an address from our acting VC about the future and is expected to be followed by a Q&A session. I don't think anyone has any idea how it'll go - but we all want to know what's coming and we all want a good outcome.

'The incoming vice-chancellor of a soon-to-be merged university group said there is now a “blueprint” for others to join the newly formed entity, but said she could not rule out job cuts as the institutions join forces.' 1/3

What a day to be at Kent: informed about merger after BBC announced it, attended VC’s pointless briefing , heard Greenwich VC talking about new redundancies on BBC… Netflix may be the only answer, too early for a drink…

Today is exhausting. Solidarity to all my colleagues at the University of Kent. I'm getting nothing done today apart from UCU work (necessary and important, but the start of term is looming!!) Take care of yourselves and each other. One silver lining - working with @ucugreenwich.bsky.social

This is the best thing anyone working in UK Higher Education can do today, particularly if you're at Kent or Greenwich. As a union we're stronger together. Support your local branch.

Join the Union ASAP.

Kentwich may have come without any (required?) consultation of staff and trade unions, but that isn't stopping branches from getting to work and ensuring staff gets represented and acts together. 🫶 Sending much solidarity to the excellent people @ucugreenwich.bsky.social & @ucukent.bsky.social!

What they said! 👇 We are stronger together (but in a 'solidarity' way, of course) - so have a coffee and a chat with colleagues & invite them to join UCU if they haven't already www.ucu.org.uk/join

We've had a staff briefing at Kent from our acting VC and we don't really know any further than has been reported. This is the beginning of a process that we've been told will be transparent. There were lots of questions but no answers yet. Talk to your colleagues. We are stronger together.

I feel very sorry for my former colleagues at Kent who got to start their day with this news. Even if this goes well it’s likely to lead to a prolonged period of uncertainty for staff right at the start of the new academic year when Kent has already been going through major restructuring for years!

Do be rest assured that the UCU local branch is on this already. There's a planned JSNCC today and we've got regional union reps attending too.

Members: your branch committee is about where you are in terms of info so far, but we'll be working hard to get as much as we can and making sure you get as much clarity as possible. We'll have a social Thursday 18th September, 5pm at the Gypsy Moth: non-members welcome www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Absolutely astounded that the UCU and Unison branches at Kent and Greenwich were not consulted, and that staff only found out about the merger this morning via BBC news and Kent Online. Solidarity to all colleagues.

For everyone else reading the news this morning about the Kent and Greenwich merger - it's been as big a shock for us too. Rumours always abound with constant cuts and redundancies, but they remained rumours until 7.45am this morning.

“Strike action is always a last resort, but staff at the University of Dundee have proven that they will take action to protect jobs and the future of the university.”

Our ballot to renew our ability to take industrial action at the University of Dundee opens today. Melissa D’Ascenzio, Dundee University UCU branch co-president, said: “The university’s students and staff have been badly let down. 1/

‘AI tech shows promise writing emails or summarizing meetings. Don't bother with anything more complex.’ I’ll ask again: What is the trillion dollar problem that this trillion dollar technology is supposed to solve? A difficulty writing emails?

🔥 Third ballot win in 18 months: 76% YES on 77% turnout for @uniteucu.bsky.social members! UCU Management’s response? Threats & intimidation 🤦

funny how the messaging on research is “do fewer things but do them really well” while the expectations on the ground for university staff have become “do everything”. “we replaced X person/process/division with an app which will be more efficient. oh btw u have to reenter the data manually”

Don't forget folks to get a 'flu jab as the start of the new academic year approaches. Also remember to stick to your working days and hours as much as possible. You are entitled to rest and relaxation - your employer does not own you.

Well, let's face it. There won't be any rank and file employees left to take on this work #StartingTheObvious

This is spot on. The general public don't get to see the huge losses because it's done piecemeal university by university. Add the numbers up across the UK and it's horrifying. Thousands of jobs. Millions spent on useless consultants.

🧵1/ Our branch just passed a motion condemning the stealth closure of the MA in Black British History. We did this to demand accountability — for the future of the MA and for the College’s promises on racial justice and equality. shorturl.at/gIUVG

Yikes, entries in German GCSE fell by 7% this year. And since 2020 the decrease has been 21.2%. Here's our analysis of the numbers for GCSEs in arts, humanities and social sciences www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/gcse-re...

It is instructive that Dundee leadership types essentially wanted to fire another 20+% of their workforce to stop the financial bleeding, and, the arms-length funding body said no that is a terrible idea, don't do that, it will severely degrade your sustainability! // Looks to camera.