This announcement alongside the news that Newcastle is cutting 300 jobs, also to aid the budget, demonstrates a complete lack of interest in the one thing they are supposed to provide: a quality education. These cuts are largely taking place in HaSS (History and Social Studies) and also GPS (Geography, Politics and Sociology), leaving at least 45 staff members in these departments without jobs for the new academic year.
While the university is offering voluntary severance packages, those who are sole earners in their family, parents, international citizens or any combination of the three, cannot afford to take the severance and are instead having to compete against their colleagues for a job that lots of them have held for many years. Further to this, these jobs are not being awarded based on a staff member’s quality as a teacher, but rather what they can bring in for the research budget.
The plans for the India campus seem to me like gross financial mismanagement - why build a new campus when they’re struggling to run the Newcastle one? Further, why are the budget cuts initially appearing in the humanities departments when the university recently spent £5 million on a new engineering building?
If the cost of living crisis is a major factor in the enrolment of international students, these budget changes and the possibility of a new campus don’t necessarily add to the university’s appeal. I fail to see why an international student would apply to the university if they have no guarantee that lecturers in their academic field will continue to have jobs, especially because the attendance fees are so high.
The plan to build a new campus in India does not appear to be a solution, but a further misapplication of the university’s funds.