{"id":7572,"date":"2026-05-10T01:40:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T00:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=7572"},"modified":"2026-05-11T14:56:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:56:58","slug":"tears-at-impromptu-discussion-of-university-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/news\/2026\/05\/10\/tears-at-impromptu-discussion-of-university-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Tears at community discussion of university future"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Zyna Khwaja, Ana Kolesnyk & Megan Shand.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Following the cancellation of a scheduled staff town hall meeting, university academics organised an impromptu community discussion about University of Aberdeen money-saving plans.<\/p>\n

Staff members decided to organise the unofficial discussion after university bosses informed staff that the scheduled town hall meeting would be rescheduled pending a critical decision by University Court on student-staff ratios.<\/p>\n

This meant that staff were not able to question senior management following Court\u2019s recent vote<\/a> to replace the 12 schools with four faculties, and ahead of a further vote on minimum student-staff ratios.<\/p>\n

50 participants ventured to King’s College last Wednesday to attend the community discussion in person, while about 115 more people tuned in online via Microsoft Teams.<\/p>\n

At the discussion, staff members voiced concerns regarding job cuts. A persistent criticism shared by participants was the reluctance of the Senior Management Team (SMT) to provide data and figures, withholding the exact number of staff or courses they intend to cut.<\/p>\n

University and College Union (UCU) Aberdeen co-chair Dan Cutts shared that the staff union is \u201cnot being meaningfully engaged\u201d in cuts plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see no cost-benefit analysis with any of the proposals being put forward by ACS. It is hard for us to understand the rationale,\u201d he pointed out. \u201cWhile we see that change is necessary, I see no justification for the changes [SMT] are proposing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it has been reported<\/a> that proposals put 200 jobs at risk, Cutts claimed that senior management refuse to disclose the exact number of staff members at risk of being forced out. The staff union leader said, \u201cI have seen the number, but I cannot share it with you. But they should be transparent and share it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This sentiment seemed to be shared by multiple staff members, with tension rising in the room as concerns mounted one after another.<\/p>\n

A lecturer said, \u201ca majority of us committed ourselves to this job by moving to live in Aberdeen. It is a dependence that we have.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe university is not only failing us, but also our families,\u201d he added, prompting loud applause.<\/p>\n

Criticisms were lodged against the university for its handling of pay, with current proposed salary increases at 1.8% for 2026\/2027 falling short of inflation rates.<\/p>\n

This sits in contrast with salaries enjoyed by senior management, most of whom, as unions point out<\/a>, neither teach nor conduct research. Seven out of eight of Aberdeen University bosses earn between \u00a3150,000 and \u00a3300,000 per year, with a total salary bill of \u00a31.6 million.<\/p>\n

At the meeting, a participant raised that they believed senior managers are not focused enough on raising revenue from sources other than tuition fees.<\/p>\n

Later, a staff member shed tears while speaking about the university’s neglect of staff concerns. Speaking with The Gaudie <\/i>about the importance of discussion, the lecturer\u2019s eyes filled with tears after repeating that \u201cstaff can\u2019t just be numbers on a spreadsheet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond staff opinion, students also made their voices heard.<\/p>\n

An international student who shared that they will pay a total of \u00a3100,000 to the university, challenged SMT to \u201cchange how much funding they give themselves\u201d.<\/p>\n

They called university plans to cut courses \u201can ongoing campaign to dehumanise education\u201d, to which speakers expressed verbal agreement and participants applauded. They clarified their belief that by cutting away humanities staff, SMT dehumanise the institution as a whole.<\/p>\n

Student President Christina Schmid presented feedback from approximately 230 students on the Adapting for Continued Success programme. She had previously given the presentation to University Court members at an official dinner.<\/p>\n

In the presentation, Schmid said students had noticed low morale among their lecturers and tutors, which impacted their learning. Students also said they appreciate lecturers for their approachability and willingness to help students despite the present stress.<\/p>\n

The Students\u2019 Union leader disclosed students’ uncertainty about course continuity for students given current instability at the university. Students are deeply worried about higher staff-student ratios (SSRs), she said, sharing that students wish for more contact with their lecturers. \u201cAnd with higher SSRs\u201d she pointed out, \u201chow is that supposed to happen?\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmid added that the cost of living crisis and uncertainty drive demand for student support, and students want higher accessibility to counselling and support services.<\/a><\/p>\n

UCU leader Dan Cutts added, \u201cI think it is only fair for students to know what is happening. It will be affecting them as much as it will be affecting us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Zyna Khwaja, Ana Kolesnyk & Megan Shand. Following the cancellation of a scheduled staff town hall meeting, university academics organised an impromptu community discussion about University of Aberdeen money-saving plans. Staff members decided to organise the unofficial discussion after university bosses informed staff that the scheduled town hall meeting would be rescheduled pending a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":7573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":159,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[254,1271,1699,200,198,1452,201,1279,805,183],"wf_post_folders":[181],"class_list":{"0":"post-7572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-aberdeen","9":"tag-aberdeen-university-students-association","10":"tag-adapting-for-continued-success","11":"tag-ausa","12":"tag-christina-schmid","13":"tag-dan-cutts","14":"tag-students-union","15":"tag-ucu","16":"tag-university","17":"tag-university-of-aberdeen"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Gaudie Staff","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/gaudie-staff\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-09-at-23.20.13-300x169.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Aberdeen<\/a>","Aberdeen University Students' Association<\/a>","Adapting for Continued Success<\/a>","AUSA<\/a>","Christina Schmid<\/a>","Dan Cutts<\/a>","Students' Union<\/a>","UCU<\/a>","university<\/a>","University of Aberdeen<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Aberdeen<\/span>","Aberdeen University Students' Association<\/span>","Adapting for Continued Success<\/span>","AUSA<\/span>","Christina Schmid<\/span>","Dan Cutts<\/span>","Students' Union<\/span>","UCU<\/span>","university<\/span>","University of Aberdeen<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 months ago","modified":"Updated 3 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 10 May 2026","modified":"Updated on 11 May 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 10 May 2026 01:40","modified":"Updated on 11 May 2026 14:56"},"featured_img_caption":"University community members met in KCG7 despite the town hall meeting being cancelled (Photo: Ana Kolesnyk)","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7572"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7582,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7572\/revisions\/7582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7572"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=7572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}