Job cuts fears as university plans college mergers

The university will be merging its current four colleges into two

A union has warned the University of Derby will be "weaker" as part of proposed changes which it is feared could lead to job losses.

An internal announcement made to staff, seen by the BBC, states there would be a "reduction in posts" and the university's four colleges would be merged into two as part of the plans.

A spokesperson for the University of Derby said the changes were to "ensure the university's long-term sustainability".

UNISON East Midlands head of higher education Elliot Dean said: "Cutting these jobs will hit Derby hard."

The cuts come after the university planned to reduce the number of senior academics

"You can't provide a first-class university experience without the people who make it happen," he added.

"Fewer staff means poorer services, less support for students and, ultimately, a weaker university.

"Derby deserves a well-resourced institution that invests in its people, not one that trims away the very teams who bring learning and innovation to life."

UNISON said it was in the early stages of negotiations with the university and the number of redundancies has not yet been confirmed.

The internal email sent to staff states the planned merging of the university colleges would be effective from 1 August this year.

The current four colleges will become two - the College of Health and Humanities and the College of Science and Engineering.

It adds: "As part of these proposals, we are reviewing academic leadership roles in areas where the change to our colleges will mean we have duplication.

"We are also looking at downsizing our professional services management and leadership to align closer to our student base.

"Regrettably, this includes some reduction in posts.

Those directly affected have already been contacted, and we are now in consultation with them and the relevant unions."

'Gold standard teaching'

A spokesperson at the University of Derby said: "We are the only university in the city and county, contributing millions to the economic prosperity of the region, and we have a responsibility to ensure our long-term sustainability in order to remain one of the area's largest employers and providers of higher education.

"To ensure we are best positioned to do this, and that we can continue to deliver an outstanding, gold standard teaching and learning experience, we have made proposals which would see us reorganising our academic colleges and aligning our professional services leadership more in line with our student population.

"Some roles may well be impacted by these changes.

"In addition, our standalone Derby Business School, which is on track to exceed recruitment targets this year, will welcome students from across the world to Derby.

"Applications are up across the board and these changes will contribute to our continued growth."

The announcement has come two months after a round of redundancies were announced for research leadership roles, professors and associate professors.

This move was criticised by the University and College Union (UCU), which said the cuts would "cause lasting damage to Derby's academic reputation".