Bangor university, like many universities, is in financial trouble, and I feared a rerun of the financial trouble caused by the pandemic. Then we had to fight to keep our jobs! But this time there wasn’t an invitation to an ominous meeting. The talk going around was less pessimistic. And then one day, The Dean of the College came over to present the situation to us with the Head of School.
In the meeting, they explained that we as a School were doing so well we should have more staff, not less. And the university wasn't going to salami-slice all the schools this time. The big cuts were going to fall elsewhere, for instance in the School of Psychology and Sports Science. That is really bad news for them, but it really looks like this time, SOS is escaping the guillotine. So quite unexpectedly, I am not fearing for my job.
It is difficult to see where this is going in a larger context. Not a day goes by or another university is in the news, announcing job cuts. And the government doesn't have any money either, so they won't support us. This could be quite a pivotal time for universities in the UK! We'll see what the situation is 10 years for now. But probably, Ocean Sciences will still exist…
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