CDBU BLOG
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More than ever, university governors need academics as partners
This blog was kindly contributed by Steven Jones, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Manchester. Last month, WonkHE ran a short series of blogs on ‘governance in a time of pandemic’. Developed in partnership with one of the ‘big four’ accountancy...
News round-up: Online learning raises questions and issues of accessibility become a growing concern
This week, universities continued to come to grips with the prospect of shifting online, raising questions about quality and accessibility. CDBU also expressed their support for disabled students who feel left behind amid Covid-19 chaos, and we have issued a call for...
Responding to the Covid-19 crisis: a 5-point plan for the University of Nottingham.
Below we publish a response to the financial implications of the Covid-19 crisis at the University of Nottingham by members of the professoriate. It was submitted to the Vice-Chancellor and members of the University Executive Board on Tuesday. CDBU would like to...
Developing a way forward for a post Covid-19 future: A manifesto for change from the University of Manchester
This Manifesto for Change from the University of Manchester was kindly contributed to the CDBU blog. We would like to invite universities from across the UK to contribute similar accounts. To download the full manifesto as a pdf, click here. A manifesto for change...
Disabled students left behind amid coronavirus chaos
The Council for the Defence of British Universities would like to express their support for disabled, neurodivergent, and chronically ill PhD students who are currently appealing for specific reasonable adjustments due to the disruption of COVID-19. We believe that...
News round-up: Universities fear the worst after government refuses multi-billion bailout
The government's rejection of the multi-billion pound bailout needed to save universities has raised serious concerns for the future of higher education. Voluntary severance schemes have been introduced, graduate prospects look bleak, and the shift to online learning...
Cooling the crisis out
"If we wish to change the model, to have higher education serve the public, students and academics, and not as a Ponzi scheme floated on a bubble of student fees, we need to act now", argues John Holmwood. The financial crisis facing the higher education sector is...
A major rethinking of policy for the HE sector is required, not a package of sticking plasters, says CDBU.
Press release: 4 May, 2020 The Council for the Defence of British Universities (CDBU) welcomes the announcement on 4 May of a government support package for universities and students. However, CDBU is concerned that what has been announced is only a short-term...
News round-up: University staff and students bear the brunt of Covid-19
As Covid-19 continues to inflict damage across the higher education sector and with the plea for a financial bailout falling on deaf ears, students and staff have come out in full force to highlight "inhumane" management practices and responses to the pandemic. NEW on...
‘Don’t frighten the students’: the crisis of academic freedom in the managed university
Liz Morrish had an unblemished record of 30 years in academia without so much as a late library book to her name. That all changed when she publicly voiced her opinions on the terrible toll managerialism was having on academics’ mental health – and she found herself charged with gross misconduct.
