In the face of the university’s plan for further academic staff job cuts and erosion of working conditions, UCU Sheffield Hallam has produced a new State of the University Report that compares Sheffield Hallam to other post-92 universities using various different of indicators of performance. This comes as our members vote on taking industrial action over job losses, working conditions and pensions. The university has attributed its difficulties to sector-wide financial challenges. Whilst the financial landscape of higher education is undeniably challenging, UCU Sheffield Hallam’s new report details more than a decade of university mismanagement that have led to a worsening financial situation and a decline in the university’s market share and position in the league tables. Contrary to the management’s assertion that the university is overstaffed and that further cuts in staff are unavoidable, the report reveals that previous cuts have reduced staffing to one of the lowest levels in the sector and that the further proposed further cuts carry the danger of a death spiral of declining education and research quality, and ever declining income. We show that even in its current difficult position, the university can make different financial choices that maintain the quality of teaching and research, and secure the institution’s long-term future. We invite the university to engage in meaningful discussions of an alternative and genuinely viable way forward.
