Academics and politicians have expressed outrage and concern about the future of the University of Dundee after it announced plans to cut more than 600 jobs, prompting warnings from unions that further strike action may be on the cards.?

The university plans to cut 632 jobs?across academic roles and professional services as it seeks to plug a ?35 million deficit, and said it was ¡°unlikely¡± that compulsory redundancies?could?be avoided.?

But the local University and College Union branch ¨C which is in its final week of industrial action in protest at alleged financial mismanagement at Dundee ¨C said that on top of the redundancies, there have been 237 vacancies that have remained unfilled?because of?a recruitment freeze imposed in November.

This means that 870 of 3,200 positions at the university ¨C more than a quarter ¨C could disappear.

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Dundee has also outlined plans to ¡°reorganise research into a small number of focused research institutes to minimise institution-funded research¡±, adding that it needed to address ¡°a longstanding structural imbalance with the scale and intensity of the university¡¯s research profile being significantly greater than can be sustained¡±.

But staff have warned this will devastate Dundee¡¯s reputation and ability to serve students. Angela Daly, a professor in law and technology, said the cuts were ¡°catastrophic¡±, and that the institution has taken a ¡°wrecking ball¡± to its research capabilities. ¡°What future does the university have?¡± she asked.?

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There were ¡°serious questions about if any research is going to continue at the University of Dundee¡±, with her own department, the prestigious Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science, at risk of closure.

¡°I don¡¯t think that any area is safe, and given Dundee has had a very good research reputation ¨C punching above its weight in many respects ¨C the implications of?[the announcement]?are devastating for the continuance of research at the institution.¡±

However, a university spokesperson argued that a rebalancing of its delivery of education, research and enterprise was needed ¡°to ensure the future of the university¡±.?

¡°We need to minimise research time funded by cross-subsidy as we implement a new research strategy focused on the delivery of impactful research on a select number of broad research themes of social and global challenge. In restructuring we will establish a set of new research institutes which will be multidisciplinary and focused on supporting our world-leading research,¡± they said.?

The UCU branch is now considering further industrial action, and Daly, who is a member of the UCU branch committee, said that ¡°unless there is some kind of about-turn from university management, we¡¯re looking at more disruption due to industrial action¡±.?

The branch co-chair, Ian Ellis, described the university¡¯s financial plan as a ¡°destruction plan, not a recovery plan¡±.?

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¡°It¡¯s a fairly small city, and the university is the third biggest employer in Dundee. And if you cut a third of staff, the economic knock-on effect is devastating¡±, said Ellis, a senior lecturer in dentistry.?

A number of providers in Scotland are now facing financial difficulty after?St Andrews, Abertay, Robert Gordon and Heriot-Watt universities,?the?University of the West of Scotland?and the?University of Aberdeen?posted deficits in their most recent accounts.?The University of Edinburgh, meanwhile, has warned that?it needs to make savings of ?140 million, despite its union arguing its financial statements show that it is not in deficit.?

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The Scottish government, which has already provided Dundee with ?15 million in emergency loans to keep the university afloat, is facing calls to intervene.

¡°This is now way, way bigger than a crisis at the university; the city needs to be involved in conversations,¡± said Maggie Chapman, the Green MSP for North East Scotland. ¡°Very definitely, the Scottish government needs to take a much, much more proactive role.¡±

Chapman said that the Scottish Funding Council should be ¡°allowed to intervene when there is such gross mismanagement¡±.?

¡°The university¡¯s executive group has put the university in this crisis situation. They are threatening the existence of the institution. So the idea that the Scottish government can just stand by and watch is no longer feasible. They have to be much, much more closely involved, and that means there¡¯s a much more direct role for the Scottish Funding Council to play.¡±

Lewis Miller, a lecturer in international politics at Dundee, agreed that ministers needed to take action.

¡°How much research, how many jobs, and how many opportunities to study must be cut until our governments get serious about building a sustainable funding model and properly accountable management system in higher education?¡± he said.

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juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com