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News round-up: New year, same problems
As the world welcomes a new year, the issues that the coronavirus pandemic has inflicted on higher education remain. Students across the UK have begun rent strikes, university staff face the prospect of returning to unsafe campuses, and debates about the value of...
News round-up: Thousands of university staff made redundant since the start of the pandemic
An FOI request made by Times Higher Education has revealed that thousands of university staff have been made redundant since the coronavirus pandemic hit. Meanwhile, students across the country have planned the biggest rent strike in decades with over 20 strikes...
Academic Freedom in India: Open letter for the immediate release of jailed academics
To members and friends of CDBU, Please consider signing this open letter condemning the repression of academic freedom in India and demand the immediate release of jailed academics, scholar-activists, students and artistes. Dr Rowan Williams, our Chair of Trustees,...
News round-up: New reports shine a harsh light on racism and sexual harassment at UK universities
Sexual abuse at English and Welsh universities has been described as a "public scandal" after a report revealed that universities are systematically failing to address instances of assault and harassment, while another report commissioned by Universities UK has...
Elect Our VCs Campaign: #WeAreTheUniversity
To members and friends of CDBU, Please consider supporting this campaign which demands elected VCs at our universities and a return to true self-governance. OPEN LETTER: ELECT OUR VCs Historically, universities have elected leaders to represent their communities at...
Covid and In-Person Teaching: A Scientific Approach
Words by Professor John Drury, member of Independent Sage and Social Psychologist at the University of Sussex. How should teaching be carried out in universities during a pandemic? Back in September this year, SAGE, the scientific advisory group which advises the UK...
Students offered one week window to return home for Christmas
Plans for mass testing and staggered departure dates over a one week period have been laid out by the government in order to allow students to return home for Christmas. The plans have been met with criticism from some universities who say mass testing might be...
News round-up: UCU deems government’s decision to reopen campuses for face-to-face teaching “unlawful”
UCU have called for a judicial review of the government's decision to ignore calls from its own Sage committee to move all non-essential teaching online and instead reopen campuses for face-to-face teaching. Sage advised the government that coronavirus outbreaks...
Winter closes on the ‘Covid Generation’
Words by Martin Allen, author of Education, Economy and Society. Winter is closing in on the ‘Covid Generation’ – those young people most affected by the pandemic. Youth unemployment, though creeping up significantly, has not yet reached the levels feared in the early...
News round-up: Students report feeling “abandoned” as the government debates their Christmas fate
As Covid cases across the UK rise exponentially, universities have quickly become virus hotspots. Students forced into quarantine have reported feeling "abandoned" by their universities, raising concerns about the mental health crisis that might be triggered by the...
