All posts tagged: Max Ashforth

University of Leicester staff announce a 3-day strike over planned redundancies

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From 9th to 11th June, staff intend to strike, having given notice to Vice-Chancellor, (Nishan Canagarajah) after failing to reach an agreement over the proposed 26 compulsory staff redundancies. The anticipated changes come as part of the University’s ‘shaping for excellence’ plan. Cara Dobbing, Leicester UCU Communications Officer-elect, stated “Leicester UCU’s committee agreed there was no other alternative but to escalate our action in defence of or members livelihoods. “The vice-chancellor may consider it an achievement of the consultation process that only 26 compulsory redundancy notices have been served, but we know the numbers of staff impacted and exiting the university is far higher.” The vice-chancellor has been at the receiving end of criticism for some time now, with a vote of no confidence against his leadership being passed at the end of March. Canagarajah has also been held directly responsible by students for their potential disrupted education, following the proposed staff strikes. The University responded to this issue with the following: “We are extremely disappointed that the University and College Union (UCU) is proceeding …

Student-led maths petiton opposes job cuts

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Written by Max Ashforth Petitions arise over defunding to the pure mathematics department at the University of Leicester. Freddie Mansfield, a third-year student, and Hannah Amliwala, a second-year student, recently started a student-led petition, that has gained 87 signatures, as of 4 March. This petition was set up in response to one set up by staff, which has been signed by over 1,000 people. The recent announcement has not been supported by all students, as Freddie stated: “I can’t see any positives about how the changes would benefit maths students.” The changes set out by University of Leicester Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nishan Canagarajah, include the redundancies of 12 pure mathematics lecturers. These redundancies would be followed by the appointment of three teaching roles. Currently, staff split their time between teaching and researching the subject, however the plan is for this to be reduced to just teaching roles. It is feared that reducing the number of staff in the department would deter prospective students from applying to the university. The long-term impact and knock-on effects, which would …