Friday the 11th is D-Day at Plymouth...
Much sympathy to Mike Sheaff at the University of Plymouth, where courses, jobs, and future student numbers are currently hanging in the balance. Mike is the staff spokesman there, but students are also understandably nervous about what £10m in cuts over two years is going to mean for their education.
And speaking of Education, that particular Plymouth faculty's OFSTED ranking in June (the highest possible - http://www.upsu.com/news/index.php?page=article&news_id=9992) didn't even make it into BBC Devon's coverage of the proposed cuts:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7494759.stm
Plymouth is neither a special, nor an isolated case in UK academia*, but its geographical location, and particular track record in marine-based studies have marked it out as a centre of excellence.
Good luck for Friday...
*The general picture: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7496247.stm
And speaking of Education, that particular Plymouth faculty's OFSTED ranking in June (the highest possible - http://www.upsu.com/news/index.php?page=article&news_id=9992) didn't even make it into BBC Devon's coverage of the proposed cuts:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7494759.stm
Plymouth is neither a special, nor an isolated case in UK academia*, but its geographical location, and particular track record in marine-based studies have marked it out as a centre of excellence.
Good luck for Friday...
*The general picture: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7496247.stm