Revealed: University of Sheffield departments being targeted for staff cuts

Koen Lamberts, the vice chancellor of the University of Sheffield, has outlined, in an email to staff, a list of departments being targeted by the university’s voluntary severance scheme.

The email, sent to all staff on Tuesday, lists seven academic departments that are being targeted for cuts. Among them are several engineering departments, as well as the Management School, the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, the School of East Asian Studies, the Journalism School, and the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

Professional services staff, such as staff working in IT services, and Accommodation and Commercial Services are also being offered voluntary severance.

The University of Sheffield has said it has no plans to shut down departments or courses.

The journalism school, which is being targeted by the scheme is housed in the Wave

A spokesperson for the Sheffield branch of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) said the scheme was “about as targeted as a missile strike”.

The voluntary severance scheme is part of £23m in staff cost reductions the University of Sheffield is aiming to make in reaction to a £50m financial shortfall. In the email, seen by The Sheffield Tab, Koen Lamberts said the university is aiming to “regain a financial surplus by 2026-27.”

The same email explained why departments had been targeted: “We are offering the scheme to areas of the University where we expect there to be a need to undertake restructuring in the near future, where savings are required and/or where activity is reducing.

“By offering the voluntary severance scheme, we hope that the required savings can be achieved, which will remove the need to restructure, or help minimise the need for compulsory redundancies if a restructure is still necessary.”

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The voluntary severance scheme (VSS) will require staff to sign a settlement agreement, the detail of which is not yet known. The severance package will include a minimum of three months worth of salary, with an extra month of pay for each year of service beyond three years, up to a maximum of nine months of compensation.

The deadline for staff to apply for the VSS is the 8th January, recommendations for decisions on each case will be received by 13th January.

Sheffield UCU does not expect many staff will take the offer of severance. They believe that the VSS will not be enough to hit the university’s £23m target.

Their spokesperson said: “We’re hearing from people that it’s not being perceived as a very generous or desirable deal. I don’t think our members think it goes far enough to make it attractive to them.”

If that target cannot be met by the scheme, the university will likely have to face a choice between reducing the target and enforcing compulsory redundancies.

£23m in staff cuts could see result in a noticeable impact on students. Sheffield UCU’s spokesperson outlined the potential effects the cuts could have: “There will be potentially bigger classes, potentially fewer modules, it might take longer for work to get marked and be assessed.

“It might be harder to see somebody if you need to talk to them because they have much more work to do, so it’s going to be a real reduction in the experience of students as learners at our institution”

However, Koen Lamberts said in his email: “By offering voluntary severance to selected areas of the University, we’re looking to make sustainable staff cost savings whilst protecting the quality of our research, teaching and student experience as much as possible.”

An architects visions of the Central Teaching Laboratory, seen from where Upper Hanover Street and Glossop Road meet. Via University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield has stressed that non-staff cost reductions are being prioritised first. The email also outlined: “The scheme will work alongside the other measures we’re putting in place, including a range of non-staff reductions such as reviewing our capital expenditure programme and the size of our estate, and reducing discretionary expenditure.”

This week, the University of Sheffield has said that, pending a planning review, they will be pausing the delivery of their “flagship” new Central Teaching Laboratory for at least a year.

And last week, staff and students protested at the ‘sudden’ closure of the Courtyard Café in the Management School building.

The protest against the closure of the Courtyard Café. Via @sheffieldUCU on X

The university’s financial woes mirror similar problems throughout the British university sector. New rules placing limits on students bringing family with them when they come to the UK has resulted in a sharp fall in international student numbers.

According to the Home Office 263,400 sponsored study visa applications were made between July and September, down from 312,500 in the summer of 2023. This year at the University of Sheffield, there are 2,200 less foreign students compared to the 2022-23 academic year.

Falling international student numbers represents a significant loss of revenue to all British universities. Currently, most domestic students pay tuition fees of £9,250 per year, while international students pay a rate of £22,000 per year.

The VSS is one of several grievances outlined by Sheffield UCU after they passed a no confidence vote in the university’s leadership last week at a meeting attended by almost 1000 people.

Last week’s vote does not necessarily indicate impending strike action, but it does demonstrate that there is significant discontent felt by university staff.

Sheffield UCU’s spokesperson said: “It’s a signal to the management that they really need to change their tune, that they really need to drastically rethink, and I think if they don’t then we’re going to start seeing a ratcheting up of pressure from the trade unions on campus when they try and push some of these things through.”

This comes as Sheffield Hallam University saw protests by union members earlier this week, in response to a delay in planned pay rises.

Last year, Sheffield Hallam University also launched a similar voluntary severance scheme, to the one launched by the University of Sheffield.

The full list of departments being targeted by the voluntary severance scheme is:

•  Academic staff in the Management School
• Academic staff in the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
•  Academic staff in the School of East Asian Studies
• Academic staff in the Journalism School
• Academic staff in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
• Civil Engineering academic staff within the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
•  Materials academic staff within the School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
• Accommodation and Commercial Services
• English Language Teaching Centre
• IT Services
• Faculty and school-based professional services staff

The University of Sheffield declined to comment

Featured image via @steelcitysnaps on X