With two tweets, Prof Matthew Evans announced his notice to Queen Mary University of London, standing down on July 1st, 2016. His departure follows that of Prof Jeremy Kilburn. I once shared with the Principal of Queen Mary my view that because managers (like politicians) change all the time, the incentive to build an improved department (which in former times would mean personal recognition) appears to be lacking. Indeed, this pair of managers deeply transformed the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences: in a blink of an eye they recruited over 50 new academics who joined 40 members of staff surviving since 2011, while effecting 35 departures of active researchers. Was it for the better? I think Prof Evans would say so:
Category: Academic
55 years of Cinvestav – reflexions on a conversation
I have yet to read Susana Quintanilla’s written account of the Cinvestav’s founding [Recordar hacia el mañana. Creación y primeros años del Cinvestav. 1960-1970], a nice edition published by the Center in 2002 that sits on the pile of books on my desk. So far, I have followed the story through the autobiography of Pablo Rudomín. We initiated, today, festivities for the 55 years from the creation of the Center. I returned to the lab with three thoughts to share.
Dr C Magoulas v QMUL (part I)
At the same time of my dismissal from Queen Mary on grounds of redundancy, my colleague Babis was also served notice. His case hasn’t seen any publicity so far. In what follows, I present the description of the original Employment Tribunal Judgment by the Honourable Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing, DBE. I transcribe a few parts of her Judgment (ommitting some of the legal terminology) with an aim to make some aspects of Babis’ experience better known and the text easier to follow for the lay reader. The public document is available in full here.
A dialogue with Peter Lawrence
I learned that fresh reflections of Peter Lawrence had been published from a post on twitter
The decline of a College
“Managing a team of Process Improvement Project Managers, the Head of Process Improvement will champion a change in behavior and culture at QMUL, placing process improvement and the value for money agenda at the heart of professional services both centrally and in academic schools.”
The Devil in the Detail
In Queen Mary: nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition John Allen and I wrote: (more…)
Imperial College management and Professor Stefan Grimm teach us:
What should we learn from the recent suicide at Imperial College? A collation of comments from the discussion in the Times Higher Education pages gives hope. However, one commentator, Jim, has spotted a danger: “If we tar all senior management as the same simply because they are making people redundant, decent compassionate people will opt out and only the real monsters will do these jobs.” I would say reform is urgent, for “The record suggests… such monsters are climbing high on the ladders.”
How to avoid petrification from the real monsters? Reform is required with respect to university governance; I suggest we pay close attention to concerned academics:
236+100+165+150+… the academic slaughter in the UK continues
Chris Havergal reports today on Queen’s University Belfast plans to axe 236 (note the precision in their count) jobs and reduce student numbers by 1,010. James Field reports that the University of Surrey is to cut 100 jobs and scrap its politics department, partly using the Research Excellence Framework (REF) as a guide. Jack Grove reports that up to 165 jobs may be lost at London Metropolitan University. The University of Aberdeen is to cut about 150 jobs as part of efforts to save millions of pounds in the coming months (this item from BBC but see also my post over one protagonist).
Sir Christopher Snowden vs University of Surrey
Let us “refocus on current strengths”. Perhaps we were currently somewhat unfocused but nevertheless strong. Or perhaps we can “reduce” our current strengths (“staff”) to gain a more viable “student-to-staff” ratio. After all students pay more now, they need fewer teachers. (more…)
Thank you Dame Marina Warner for sharing the lesson
I recommend, if you haven’t done so already, to read Marina’s new article in the London Review of Books – Learning My Lesson (also available as a podcast if you prefer). To someone injured from the rough discovery that Queen Mary was successfully turned from a community of scholars advancing knowledge into a money-making enterprise (its Principal stating in a letter to all staff a few days ago “Given this context, it is encouraging to report that our audited accounts for the last Financial Year (2013/14) show an operating surplus (after removing one-off items) of just under £14.9 million…”) finding out that there are like-minded individuals who expose the crude barbarism of the sector’s appalling clique of bankers (as in most principals, vice-principals and their private aids) sounds like Orphic music, like reaching the peak of the Alps and gazing down the view, an eagle flying beneath reflecting the sun. I write to express a silent feeling of gratitude to you Marina.
fanismissirlis 