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Bullying is a feature of UK research universities, not a bug timeshighereducation.com/opinion/bullyi…

Voice of Victim "At my university, we have to fill in Time Allocation Surveys stating how we spend our time Senior management claim it is anonymous I get repeated reminders that I have not filled it in Mmm ... this does not feel like anonymous ☹️"

At universities, rise of centralised administration has turned support into surveillance. Once meant to enable teaching & research, bureaucracy now governs by policy, procedure & coercion Less 'How can we assist?' and more 'Have you filled out your Time Allocation Survey'

Needs to roll out in universities as well University bosses who silence or retaliate against whistleblowers should be banned This will cause a bloodbath of senior management in many universities Likely no HR Director or People Officer will survive @WhistleUK @Whistler_News

MP for Lancaster & Wyre, Cat Smith, raises redundancies @LancasterUni in Hansard No-one in Gov't will listen of course, but it's good constituency MPs are beginning to sound alarm Wales, Scotland & N. England will feel biggest effect if Unis go under hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025-0…

There are ~150k academics in UK universities with open-ended contracts Job losses this year are up to 20k Pressures show no sign of easing, next year is likely to be the same 40/150 =0.26 We can expect to lose up to a quarter of permanent academic jobs this over 2024 to 2026

Lord Smith of Finsbury is new Chancellor of Cambridge University Very strong showing by Sandi Toksvig who barely campaigned @oxonpolis @VarsityUK

There are 160 universities, each facing an average of around 200 job losses—putting the total well over 20,000 And that’s not even counting non-renewed fixed-term contracts For perspective: the 1984 miners' strike was sparked by the threat of 20,000 job cuts

“One person told the report that it was like “watching the birth of fascism” as colleagues singled out for redundancy were deliberately isolated” This sets the stage for a coordinated mobbing campaign— a tactic employed by HR & senior leadership to engineer dismissals

Scandal at University of Greater Manchester deepens Search warrants are executed into alleged bribery & corruption No oversight or scrutiny into behaviour of senior management at many universities @dundeeuni, now @Uni_GreaterMcr, more to come manchestermill.co.uk/university-bol…

Prof Wyn Evans apologises to celebrities Other people he owes apologies to include Boris Johnson, Paula Vennells, Jeff Bezos & Vladimir Putin They all need protection from criticism by obscure university professors @oxonpolis @anitachaudhuri @guardian

Why are only some full-time University staff included in electorate for Cambridge Chancellorship -- not all? This seems to contradict core value of the university in opposing discrimination @ed_nonsense @oxonpolis @varsityUK

"Cambridge changed my life. Three years as a student taught me how to make life-long friends & to disagree without rancour," says Lord Browne And it was free Thanks in part to you, students now leave with Cambridge University with huge debts @oxonpolis @VarsityUK @guardian

Public support for UK universities has collapsed since 2010 It's why Gov’t won’t step in Student debt lasting 30–40 years fuels resentment Lord Browne ushered in this change. He's a tone-deaf choice for Cambridge University Chancellor Last day of online voting is today

Sombre look at university funding It concludes only solution is to keep increasing financial burden on graduates until gov't is able to contribute more funding It's grim reading Suggested solution looks implausible blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpol…

Huge spending on external consultancies is fuelling deficit at @Cambridge_Uni Enormous legal bills too, because of failing HR If Wyn Evans is elected as Chancellor, this is something that he will change @oxonpolis #CambridgeChancellor

Last day for in-person voting in Cambridge Chancellor race Wyn Evans is only candidate pledging to serve just 5 years — enough time to make real change Any reimagining of the role should include a pause to reassess 21percent.org/?p=2407 @oxonpolis @varsityUK