DEVASTATING CUTBACKS are set to hit campus in part of an estimated £2bn slash to university funding.
York officials are bracing themselves for the savings which could see at least 14,000 academics lose their jobs nationwide, according to the lecturers’ union UCU. This could even equate to the axing of entire departments at York.
YUSU president Tim Ngwena slammed the government, saying the savings are “short-sighted, counterproductive and will damage students and the wider economy.”
He said: “It’s ludicrous to think that cuts in higher education funding could do anything but impact on student experience.”
Further damage to the porter service, campus bars and student facilities are likely to be key targets for the campus-crushing savings. Seminar and lecture sizes are also expected to increase dramatically.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the UCU warned: “We will see teachers on the dole, students in larger classes and a higher education sector unable to contribute as much to the economy or society.”
Leaders of the Russell Group of universities have also claimed that the cuts will have “a devastating effect not only on students and staff, but also on Britain’s international competitiveness.”
The University has not yet been given all the details of the savings and so have not made any decisions on campus cut backs so far.