The University and College Union (UCU) has threatened strike action over cuts being made at Oxford Brookes University that will see the closure of two of its departments.
UCU’s branch at Brookes has also expressed “no confidence” in vice-chancellor Alistair Fitt as its chair, Alan Reeve, claimed there was “no financial need whatsoever” for the proposed “cull” of academic staff.
UCU members met for an emergency meeting on 17 November and 98 per cent of them voted in favour of a possible strike ballot unless the university rules out compulsory redundancies, UCU said.
It said the proposed cuts affecting mathematics, the arts, humanities, and social sciences – with up to 48 staff at risk – will be made “as soon as January 2024”, as the university seeks to save £2 million a year.
