The university is set to make major staff and school cuts amid financial crisis. So what may this mean for those affected, its future and the local economy?
For almost a decade, Dr Alastair Hemmens has supported The School of Modern Languages, currently serving as the Senior Lecturer in French. Cardiff University’s plans to close the school in an effort to manage its financial crisis, has left him in a state of limbo.
He is one of many whose futures have been plagued with uncertainty after the university sent out letters to around 1,800 staff, announcing its intention to cut 400 jobs and close entire schools. Staff have described the decision as brutal and callous.
This news has Hemmens worried about his future here in Wales and the impact it will have on his family. “I can only speak for my situation, but, you know, if I lose this job that could mean I might have to move somewhere else.
“I might have to leave my community I’ve lived in for ten years. I’d have to take my daughter out of school.”
Teachers have expressed a state of shock and horror after the university revealed its current course of action, with many struggling to get through their daily routine.
Hemmens says colleagues have described the situation as surreal, that not knowing what’s going to happen has been anxiety inducing for them.
The university advised its staff about the mental health helpline if they required support during this period. Individuals who attempted to use the service were informed that they would not be able to get an appointment until the end of March.
Dr Andy Williams, a spokesperson for the University and College Union said, “This is another kind of example of the university’s gesture politics and a real slap in the face to the people whose jobs and lives they’ve placed in such uncertainty.”
The decision to dissolve several Cardiff University schools was the outcome of a listening exercise performed over the previous year to solicit staff feedback on the university’s direction for the future.
The exercise involved the university ranking whole schools and departments and clusters of teachers and researchers, largely concerning different elements of their profitability.
“The School of Modern Languages were parcelled off on their own,” said Williams. “What looks to us like an exercise in preparing the way of making cuts that [the university] had already decided on.”
The closing of the school will result in the termination of 75 academic staff, 24 teaching and research contracts, and 51 teaching and scholarship contracts.
Hommens says for years The School of Modern Languages has overcome challenges imposed by new administrative burdens. “We’re constantly told we need to do better. And time and time again my colleagues have stood up to the plate… doing everything the management asked.”
With the school delivering 60% of its language programs nationally, Hemmens is concerned about the disastrous consequence of these cuts if they are approved. He said, “Wales will become the only developed nation in the world where you cannot study a modern language in its capital city.”
The university has dedicated decades in establishing international partnerships, connecting Wales with some of the most regarded universities in the world.
These international relationships now come under threat with many of the programs already being affected by the universities decision to close entire schools.
One of the programs set to be cut under the current proposal is BA Modern Chinese. The school’s closure impacts both its two-year student exchange program and its partnership with Beijing Normal University.
Dr Xiaoli Wu, a lecturer in Chinese Studies said, “This is devastating for us, for our students, and for our colleagues. Even three weeks into the consultation stage, we are still struggling to believe this is happening.”
Cardiff University is one of the largest employers in central Cardiff, employing 7,760 according to the Welsh government’s latest figures. “Think about the knock-on effect of that for the economy of Cardiff and Wales as a whole… this is going to decimate… the local economy.” Hemmens said.
“Because… all those people they go and spend money in town, they use the local services, they pay council tax, they contribute to the local economy.
“So that’s going to affect tonnes of local businesses, that’s going to affect tax revenue, that’s going to affect growth.
“I just genuinely cannot understand why the Welsh government doesn’t seem more worried about this why Cardiff Council doesn’t seem more worried about this either… because this is devastating.”
Hemmens fears this will be a terrible moment in Cardiff’s and Wales’ cultural history if the mass terminations that have been suggested are carried out.
He believes that Cardiff University can be an institution that provides deep cultural engagement and infrastructure for Cardiff and the people of Wales. He said, “You cannot take our cultural bread and water away… because that’s what this is… you’ve got to provide the basics… we cannot deprive our society of these things.”