At the end of January, Cardiff University announced plans to cut academic staff in a bid to plug a £30 million shortfall in its finances. A formal consultation with staff, titled Securing our Academic Future, is underway and will conclude in May.

Universities across the UK are facing financial pressures thanks to student visa restrictions causing a dip in international student numbers, growing competition to attract top UK students and home student fees not rising with inflation. However Cardiff has been criticised for the severity of its proposed cuts, and for the way they have been communicated.

Many departments and academic schools at Cardiff will be affected. Under current proposals, the School of Modern Languages faces near-total closure.

In this episode, Tom speaks to people directly affected by the changes including current and former students, the branch president of Cardiff UCU, and the president of NUS Wales to understand the human cost behind the cost. He also interviews Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, an academic and entrepreneur, who explains why Cardiff, and many other UK universities, are making such difficult decisions.

Links, reading and petitions

Cardiff University’s Securing Our Academic Future statement: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2894086-securing-our-academic-future

The University’s Update on Cardiff University in Kazakhstan: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2903220-update-on-cardiff-university-kazakhstan

You can sign the Save Modern Languages at Cardiff University here: https://www.change.org/p/save-mlang-at-cardiff-university

And view the SaveCardiffLanguages website:
https://www.savecardifflanguages.org/

You can sign the petition to Save Cardiff University’s School of Music: https://www.change.org/p/save-cardiff-university-school-of-music

You can sign the petition to Save Cardiff University’s School of Nursing:
https://www.change.org/p/save-cardiff-university-school-of-nursing

Find out more about Professor Dylan Jones-Evans’s work on his website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professor-dylan-jones-evans-obe-3755a711/?originalSubdomain=uk

Keep up to date with Cardiff’s UCU branch: https://www.cardiffucu.org.uk/

Learn more about NUS Cymru: https://www.nus-wales.org.uk/

Professor Leighton Andrews, an academic at Cardiff’s Business School and former Welsh Government Education Minister’s Substack posts on:

An alternative to Cardiff University's plans: https://ukania.substack.com/p/an-alternative-to-cardiff-universitys

And We Need a Wales-wide review of Higher Education: https://ukania.substack.com/p/we-need-a-wales-wide-review-of-higher