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‘Greylisting’ threat hangs over university
LECTURERS and staff at crisis torn London Metropolitan University (LMU) are threatening management with the ultimate sanction available to them: “greylisting”.
The move, rarely instigated in this country, amounts to a total academic boycott of the Holloway Road university. Unless university bosses scrap plans to axe a quarter of its workforce in July 2010, they will be shamed as operating a “rogue institution” that lecturers should not work for.
The University College Union (UCU) has agreed to “greylist” London Met – which has proposed making 550 full time job cuts – from September 1.
Barry Jones, UCU’s regional official for London, said: “Grey listing is an academic boycott of an institution. We will be asking people to not get involved on any basis with the university. This includes conferences, applying for jobs, external examinations – anything really.”
He added: “It will be hugely embarrassing for the university if we go ahead in September. We are doing this to put pressure on management to stop the redundancies.”
London Met was plunged into crisis after an audit by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) found the university has claimed more than £34million for students who had dropped out of their courses early.
LMU management have responded by drawing up plans to axe 550 jobs – a quarter of the university’s workforce.
Vice Chancellor Brian Roper quit in April after emailing staff with proposals. It was later revealed that Hefce had “lost faith” in the Mr Roper and was considering the “nuclear option” of shutting down the university if he did not leave.
Mr Roper has been replaced by Alfred Morris in the vice chancellorship, but Mr Roper’s proposals to recoup the huge funding black hole by sacking staff remains. Unison and UCU, representing staff and academics, say their members should not be punished for accounting errors.
While normal drop out levels at the university have been around 30 per cent, for three years, between 2005-08, the level reported to Hefce was three per cent.
After facing criticism from politicians including Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, the Government has agreed to a full investigation into the finances at London Met.
In a House of Lords debate, Lord Drayson, minister of defence, told the chamber: “It has also always been our view that a similar review should be conducted into the actions of the university itself, and that has been made clear in discussions with the funding council.
“The Government are therefore pleased that London Metropolitan has now commissioned Sir David Melville and Deloitte to conduct such a review.
“We believe that this must look at all aspects of what happened at London Metropolitan, including issues of governance.” |
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