About 80 staff at De Montfort University (DMU) are set to be made redundant in an effort to save ?8 million.
Announcing plans to cut academic and professional service posts at the Leicester-based university in an email to staff, DMU’s vice-chancellor Katie Normington said the institution was embarking on consultation “aimed at saving around ?8 million which could result in up to 80 roles being made redundant”.
The “rebalancing [of] academic staffing to reflect changes in student numbers over recent years” will be accompanied by a “faculty merger, the centralisation of some services and a potential reduction in executive services”, says Normington in the email sent on 20 May.
News of the cuts follows the university’s decision to approve a budget requiring financial for the 2024-25 academic year, which saw the university launch a voluntary severance scheme in November.
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According to internal documents seen by Times Higher Education, some ?17 million of savings have already been achieved but further cuts are now seen as necessary because of “under-recruitment of home and overseas students [that] has left DMU with fewer enrolments than our budgets planned for”.
That situation is attributed to national factors, including a “major fall in international students [that] has disrupted both home and overseas recruitment patterns across the sector, and higher tariff institutions have over recruited home students to make up the shortfall”.
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Under the proposed changes, about a third of DMU’s law school (12.4 full-time equivalent posts out of 40) will be targeted for redundancy after enrolments in law more than halved over four years, while about half of staff in economics (6.7 out of 14.7 FTEs) will be lost under 21 redundancies in the Faculty of Business and Law designed to save up to ?1.8 million.
Under the cost reduction plan the university will also consider “limiting operational spending to essential items only, freezing vacancies where possible, removing vacancies, making efficiencies in the use of buildings, reviewing spend on capital investments – including stopping some projects, and increasing commercial income and investment in other income growing projects such as Dubai and London,” the document explains.
The cuts at DMU come despite a strong financial performance in recent years, with the university posting on a ?260 million turnover and a ?22.4 million surplus in the previous year.
However, staff have been told that “financial deficits can be expected for the coming years as a shortfall in undergraduate recruitment carries a three-year impact. There is also no indication that student numbers will increase in coming years.”
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In?a statement to 91茄子, DMU said?the university was “like almost every university in the country…dealing with unprecedented financial challenges, a combination of rising costs, flat or declining income, and uncertainty in student recruitment.”
“As this situation has intensified across the country, we have acted early and responsibly to ensure DMU remains financially stable, able to continue its vital role as a critical driver of economic growth, productivity and opportunity,” the spokesperson said, adding: “We are one of Leicester’s largest employers and contribute hundreds of millions of pounds to the regional economy annually.”
Given that the “immediate challenges the sector faces are severe and fast-growing”, the university, “having explored every viable option we could, including offering a voluntary severance scheme and non-pay savings, [was] left with having to make the hardest decision we could and review staffing costs”.
Commenting on the loss of about 80 positions across professional services and research, DMU added: “Any such losses are immensely painful for all concerned and any decisions taken will not reflect on the unflagging efforts our staff are putting in to making DMU what it is.”?
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“Ultimately, the decisions we take now are about ensuring DMU remains strong and resilient, so we can continue to fulfil our role within the community long into the future. A thriving university supports a thriving city and region.”
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