‘My university course made me who I am | Global News Avenue

Universities across the UK are struggling.

From layoffs to termination of courses, many people now have to make difficult decisions.

Most universities will Still facing economic struggle next year,,,,, Even in England and Wales there are tuition fees Rises from £9,250 to £9,535After years of stagnation.

Prior to that, the fees increased by only £250 since 2012, when the fees tripled to £9,000.

Fees, including employee salaries and construction work, continued to rise at that time – meaning the budget is getting closer.

These issues are not limited to England and Wales. Queen’s University of Belfast faces its decision this week Open a campus in India, while planning to cut 270 jobs.

The government said it was “committed to identifying the foundations of higher education”, while the UK university representing 141 universities said the industry “has been doing more for years.”

For Cardiff University final language student Darcie James 23 Announced plans to lay off 400 jobs and close some courses.

Her teacher said “feels like a small family” and now there is danger of closing. Nursing and music classes are also under threat.

The University and College Alliance (UCU) branch said the program will vote for the program without confidence in the university’s leadership team.

Branch president Joey Whitfield, a senior lecturer in Hispanic Studies, said “there is a lot of anger and uncertainty” and some students reported that employees were crying at them during the lecture.

Professor Wendy Larner, the university’s vice president, said the university’s final plan “will be shaped by our community” for 90-day consultation.

“The scale of the challenge will be retained, but the scale of the challenge we address will certainly be refined and developed over the next 90 days,” she said.

Student Darcie said she was “very shocked” by the announcement, and as an anxious person, her courses — especially her year abroad in France and Spain — “make her one person.”

She said this is “so important people can use it too.”

In January, the University of Kent said Will cut more work To save nearly £20 million.

In February last year, the university announced plans to cut 58 jobs and Six themes of “elimination” – Art History, Anthropology, Health and Social Care, Music and Audio Technology, News, Philosophy and Religious Studies – Addressing its “financial challenges”.

Brendan Papp, a 21-year-old journalist, is “professing” – meaning that students currently canceling the course are seeing it until they are finished.

When he applied, he said the course ranks among the top five in the country. Now, he said, it has fallen to the “last”.

Brendan, an international student from Virginia, USA, came to the UK to pursue his dream of becoming a sports journalist. Now he is eager to complete his courses so he can move to Madrid for sports management.

He said the class lost “two very good teachers because of the cuts.”

Now, he says, “It feels like you hit the wall” and with the participation of the course immersion, he strives to see the results from his hard work.

Brendan said the staff have been “awesome” and tried to provide an “as good as possible” experience.

A staff member from another department asked not to be named and they believed the previous cuts had a knock on student recruitment, resulting in further cost-saving measures and undermining employee morale.

A university spokesman said the view was not reflected in its staff survey.

They said, “Sectional finance is under tremendous pressure and, like many other institutions, we have been making broad changes” to “reflect what students and governments are looking for from universities.”

The staff of the University of East Anglia (UEA) have Announced plans for this week’s strike In the university’s proposal, 170 full-time positions have been cut.

The “incredibly challenging decision” to save £11 million was not easily taken, the UEA said.

Nathan Wyatt, 23, a welfare official for the student union and a former political student, said he led the layoff charges before 2023.

He said there was a feeling of “fatigue” in the face of more cuts.

“The consensus on campus is that people are exhausted and they don’t have the ability to go out and say ‘no cuts’, just as loud as before.”

Nadine Zubair, digital humanities manager and co-chair of the UCU branch of the university, said students and faculty were affected by the cuts, “in every aspect of their here: their morale, their workload, workload – Everything took a hit”.

“We are a world-leading department, but the world is watching us collapse under our own management panic or despair.”

A university spokesman said the UEA remains committed to “high-quality student education and experience and we will work to limit any impact on students.”

They said “forced layoffs will always be the last resort”.

Durham University said Want to save £10 million in staff costs About 200 professional service roles have been reduced this year.

It said further savings could include layoffs on academic staff next year.

Professional service staff support the operation of the university, while scholars are responsible for research and teaching.

Durham said “hard efforts” would be made to ensure that these layoffs were voluntary layoffs, adding that it “still be a world-leading university.”

Lily Gershon, 22, a co-editor of the student newspaper host, said the cuts are reconsidering whether she wants to continue to offer graduate programs in Durham.

She said that professional service personnel facing layoffs this year form the “backbone” of the university.

Lily, from Hong Kong, said her mom “sacrificed” to pay for her to go to college because she was not entitled to a student loan, about £50 a week.

But she said that due to the shared exam, its test was cancelled, meaning “we are a group of resilient people, so we know we can adapt.”

Katie Muth, assistant professor of digital humanities and modern literature, and a member of the UCU committee in Durham, his announcement was “very worried”.

She said “there are a lot of anxiety” and colleagues were worried about the increase in workload when they left.

“People are already working or overskilled,” she said.

She believes that the Band-Aid solution will not address higher education departments that require systematic change.

A university spokesperson said all departments were asked to find savings and that the university “interacts with employees in an open and transparent way.”

They said any voluntary employee departure “will take into account the possible impact of workload and the opportunity to reduce workload.”

After the fees were frozen, the university said that finances had become increasingly strict.

The new visa restrictions on international graduate students then resulted in partners and children in the UK.

International students pay higher fees, but these restrictions in January 2024 lead to these restrictions Approximately 16% of the applications.

This in turn leads to more competition among universities to secure a place for UK students.

Institutions that regulate higher education (OFS) (OFS) warn that 72% of universities may fall into financial deficits without changes that have never been seen before – a university spends more time than it has invested – By 2026.

“We call on universities and universities to take bold and transformative steps to meet the challenges, and we know many people have taken action,” an OFS spokesman said.

It is almost impossible to tell whether a university will go bankrupt.

This is because universities borrow money based on the value of their own assets (such as buildings and land). If they get into financial trouble, they will renegotiate their loan terms at the bank – no bank wants to see a university that owes them financially.

The Ministry of Education said the government inherited the “terrible economic situation” and took “hard decisions to enhance the financial sustainability of universities”.

“The Student Office is rightly re-aligning efforts to monitor financial sustainability to help us create a safe future for the world’s leading sectors,” a spokesperson said.

“Although the institution is autonomous, we are committed to restoring the foundations of higher education to provide change for students.”

Other reports by Education Editor Branwen Jeffreys