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1. Pauline von Hellermann (pvonhellermannn@mastodon.green)'s status on Saturday, 10-Aug-2024 16:40:55 JST Pauline von Hellermann

   #AcademicVenting Queen Mary @ucu are keeping a tally on UK universities currently reducing staff. As they put it: it’s all shrinking.

   https://qmucu.org/qmul-transformation/uk-he-shrinking/

   • Pauline von Hellermann (pvonhellermannn@mastodon.green)'s status on Saturday, 10-Aug-2024 16:40:53 JST Pauline von Hellermann

     in reply to

     #AcademicVenting. Today a different perspective - a much needed critical, honest assessment of the key strategy that UK universities have been adopting to stay afloat: the mass recruitment of international students from China.

     No wonder the author had to stay anonymous: it is virtually a taboo to say any of this, but good that someone has done so.

     https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/uk-universities-are-self-harming-exploiting-chinese-students

   • Pauline von Hellermann (pvonhellermannn@mastodon.green)'s status on Saturday, 10-Aug-2024 16:41:52 JST Pauline von Hellermann

     in reply to

     #AcademicVenting ah! For years I have been thinking someone should write “Unlucky Jim” - a 21st century campus novel - now just came across this! Hope it contains all those little details I was thinking about when starting this thread.

     https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/The-Secret-Lecturer/Secret-Lecturer/9781914487217

   • Pauline von Hellermann (pvonhellermannn@mastodon.green)'s status on Saturday, 10-Aug-2024 16:41:53 JST Pauline von Hellermann

     in reply to

     #AcademicVenting 2/2

     The story starts with the freezing of tuition fees in 2017, creating a growing hole in university finances that many plugged by recruiting more foreign students (who pay more than British teenagers for the same degree). That kept the show on the road until the resulting immigration numbers became politically toxic, prompting a government clampdown on visas and a sudden 33% fall in foreign student numbers compared with the same time last year.“

   • Pauline von Hellermann (pvonhellermannn@mastodon.green)'s status on Saturday, 10-Aug-2024 16:41:54 JST Pauline von Hellermann

     in reply to

     #AcademicVenting this piece by Gaby Hinsliff provides an excellent, worrying overview of what is happening in UK HE at the moment - the reasons why the tally above of struggling universities is expanding almost daily. Freefall is the right word 1/2

     https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/29/britain-universities-freefall-saving-them-funding-international-students

   • Pauline von Hellermann (pvonhellermannn@mastodon.green)'s status on Saturday, 10-Aug-2024 16:41:55 JST Pauline von Hellermann

     in reply to

     #AcademicVenting

     Good to see a Guardian article about what’s going on Goldsmitths, featuring Michael Rosen and all.

     There really needs to be far more public awareness of the crisis in HE. Really hoping that, with a big public outcry, these savage redundancies can be prevented.

     Though putting people through all this (more than 300 of us have been sent “you are at risk”letters - i am personally in a pool of 4, for 2 jobs to go) is itself pretty savage.

     https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/27/goldsmiths-university-of-london-redundancy-plans?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other